I would argue that they are now only making themselves so busy ( and mildy efficient) because they are in so much doggy do.
The media outlet Talking Joints is far less cynical than me!
Commission digs into delivery, microbusiness, telehealth, and patient-access regulation changes
There is no way to write this without the appearance of shamelessly coddling the Cannabis Control Commission, and that may be alright for a change. It is the job of independent press people to impugn other media, which sometimes means highlighting happenings that get far less attention due to most outlets tending to pile on to another much sexier story.
In the case of the CCC, the hot headlines have touched on its very public organizational struggles, culminating recently in an excoriation by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General. In comments to the media and in testifying before lawmakers on Beacon Hill, OIG Jeffrey Shapiro called for the agency to be placed in receivership for a litany of well-documented embarrassments.
But while those many warts and wounds do need attention—some are truly outrageous, like the secrecy around the suspension of Chair Shannon O’Brien—it’s also true that the grind of state cannabis regulation chugs on in Worcester, where agency staffers are actively processing new applications and re-ups alike. They’re also tackling a range of other issues outside of the licensing routine, and on Friday the four current commissioners and supporting attorneys and others got down to business.
Meeting for the primary purpose of reviewing proposed regulation changes on specific issues that have been bandied about since last year or in some cases earlier, acting Chair Ava Callender Concepcion spent most of the nearly eight-hour redlining session guiding the group through discussions about delivery and microbusiness licenses, as well as telehealth access and letting nurse practitioners certify medical patients.
The summary below covers a mere sample of the tedious material advanced, much of it now heading into a state bureaucratic gauntlet that involves passing proposed adjustments through a public notification process before being held up for written and in-person scrutiny, and then fiddled into legally tenable policies by careful attorneys.
Again, none of this dismisses the obvious institutional flaws at the CCC. Nevertheless, even an independent industry outlet like Talking Joints Memo has published more of the dirt than the details. And since the CCC spent the entire working day addressing the latter last week—with scant recognition in the press for their efforts, since members did not start yelling and insulting one another—here’s a deeper look at what was actually accomplished …
Read the full report at
Despite Drama Around Calls For Agency Receivership, CCC Slogs On
