Marijuana

O’Brien filed a petition to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court on Friday asking the full court to hear her case and reinstate her as the commission chair. 

Even with the latest change, Massachusetts continues to have one of the most heavily regulated marijuana delivery models in the country. Most of the regulations date to 2020, when cannabis delivery began in Massachusetts and the commission threw a whole kitchen sink of safeguards at operators.

The hearings were prompted by reports of turmoil at the commission and state Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro’s call for the agency to be put under receivership so the Legislature could have time to clarify who’s in charge at the commission.

David Lakeman is currently the head of the cannabis division at the Illinois Department of Agriculture – a position he has held since September 2020. He is familiar with cannabis policy in Massachusetts and the commission itself, having served as head of government affairs at the Cannabis Control Commission between 2018 and 2020. 

“We’ve made a commitment to begin looking. It might prove to be more challenging because those who might consider it might be concerned about changes that could take place,” Treasurer Deborah Goldberg said in reference to the Legislature. “But we’ll address this as we move forward.”

“We’ve been talking about the two-driver rule since 2020,” said Ryan Dominguez, the head of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition at the public hearing.

At a meeting of the commission on Thursday, officials said the budget approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor provided $19.8 million – $2.8 million less than what the agency had requested.

Three votes are needed to appoint an acting chair, but the three commissioners – Nurys Camargo, Bruce Stebbins, and Kimberly Roy – couldn’t agree on who it should be. 

In an email, a spokesperson for the agency said a license renewal extension fee was implemented in August 2022 to give applicants for cannabis licenses more time to file them. Extensions were granted to 161 applicants, the email said, but the fees were never collected by commission staff. The total amount owed in licensing fees was $555,671, according to the email. 

In a letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano, Donahue said the committee plans to hold public hearings to revisit the statute that created the commission, particularly the responsibilities and powers of the chair of the commission and its executive director.

The commission voted back in December 2023 to remove the two-driver rule, a requirement that every delivery be carried out by two drivers for security purposes.

In a statement, Treasurer Goldberg acknowledged there are “many areas of concern” at the agency. “Although my office’s purview is limited to appointing one commissioner and jointly appointing two others, we recognize the need to address those concerns,” she said.