Starting September 16, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (Commission) will be soliciting feedback from stakeholders on the agency’s proposed regulatory changes to Microbusinesses, Delivery license types, telehealth options for patients, and prescribing allowances for providers. These draft changes were unanimously approved by the Commission at the July 19 Public Meeting and subsequently filed with the Secretary of State’s Regulations Division for publication on September 13.

Constituents will be able to provide written comment from September 16 to October 7, as well as oral testimony at a public hearing scheduled Monday, October 7 at the Commission’s headquarters at Union Station, 2 Washington Square in Worcester. Written submissions should be emailed to [email protected] with “Regulation Comment” in the subject line of the email no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on October 7, 2024.

The proposed regulatory changes include the highly anticipated change to allow delivery licensees the option of delivering marijuana and marijuana products to consumers with one Marijuana Establishment Registered Agent in a vehicle at a time, as opposed to the current requirement of two Agents, when delivering items with total retail value of up to $5,000. Two Agents would still be required to staff vehicles transporting products with a retail value exceeding $5,000 and up to the $10,000 delivery maximum. Under the change, Social Equity Program Participant and Certified Economic Empowerment Priority Applicant businesses with exclusive access to delivery licenses types also would be permitted to hold three Delivery Operator and three Delivery Courier licenses for the first time.

The draft changes also include a proposal to allow Microbusinesses to apply for other license types, such as Retail and Transport licenses; permitting Qualifying Medical Patients to opt-in to utilizing telehealth consultation with a Certifying Healthcare Provider for their initial certification; and giving Nurse Practitioners with independent practices authority to certify Qualifying Patients without a supervising Physician.

Any feedback to the draft regulations should be submitted to the Commission during the specified public comment period, and no later than October 7, 2024. All submissions should include the submitters’ full name, and organization or affiliation, if any. Those received by the deadline will be reviewed by the Commission and may be incorporated into the final version of regulations that will be considered at a forthcoming public meeting. Please be advised that the Commission may publish submissions it receives or produce them in response to a request made under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66, § 10, or any other compulsory legal processes.

A link to view the October 7 Public Hearing will be published at: https://masscannabiscontrol.com/calendar/. In advance of the public hearing, text of the proposed regulations may be viewed by visiting the “Regulations” section of the Commission’s public documents page at MassCannabisControl.com, requested by emailing [email protected], or by calling the Commission at (774) 415-0200.

 

Current Regulations

Please note: The Redlined versions include only those chapters with edits and changes in accordance with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s filing requirements.

The Massachusetts CCC descended into total chaos today, after a scheduled 10am meeting to discuss internal Commission governance started 30 or so minutes late and without the presence of acting CCC Chair Ava Concepcion.

Then, in shocking moments (depicted in the video below), the three remaining CCC Commissioners (Chair Shannon O’Brien is currently suspended) were unable to come to consensus as to who would serve as Chair in Concepction’s absence.

Commissioner Kimberly Roy, who was running the meeting, noted her previous disagreements with CCC legal counsel related to a Fall, 2023, delegation memo by O’Brien making Roy acting-Chair. CCC staff, shockingly, overrode that memo (however, it is quite likely that legal decision is under review by state oversight authorities).

A motion to make Commissioner Kimberly Roy failed 2-1, with Commissioner Nurys Camargo voting no, just minutes after Camargo made remarks about how much work there was to be done that day, and why the CCC needed to pick an acting chair quickly.

Camargo then turned down the opportunity to be acting Chair, and a motion to make Stebbins chair was voted down 2-1 (with Roy in opposition).

In turn, the CCC was forced to take a recess because they cannot move forward with today’s agenda in the absence of an agreement as to who will serve as acting chair.

I will have an update as soon as the CCC returns to session.

Werner has just been slain!!!

Authorities in Guyana have seized a semi-submersible vessel used in drug trafficking in one of the country’s jungles, Interpol said. The seizure was part of a broader operation to tackle drug trafficking and theft in more than two dozen countries, the law enforcement agency said.

Interpol said the homemade “narco submarine” The boat intercepted in Guyana could carry as much as 3 tons of cocaine at a time. The boat warned that smugglers in the region could send such semi-submarines down the rivers of South America, across the Atlantic Ocean and eventually arrive in Western Europe.

The “narco sub” was seized along with 615 tons of illegal drugs and 505 tons of precursor chemicals worth $1.6 billion, as well as 65 stolen cars, in 31 different countries, Interpol said. The international law enforcement agency coordinated the effort, dubbed Operation Lionfish Hurricane, between April and May in a bid to crack down on drug trafficking networks in South America, Africa and Europe.

According to Interpol, their operation led to 206 arrests. Authorities seized more than 56 tons of cocaine and 52 tons of other drugs, including marijuana, ketamine and tramadol, a prescription opioid that is strictly regulated in several countries due to its high potential for abuse and dependence. The United Nations has noted a sharp increase in the trafficking of tramadol in various parts of the world over the past decade.

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Authorities seize ‘narco-submarine’ in South American jungle, illegal drugs and chemicals worth $1.6 billion