Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission Suspend 2 Managers

The Cannabis Control Commission agency located in Massachusetts is currently experiencing a shakeup. Two of the top managers from the Bay State’s Cannabis Control Commission have been suspended recently. Additionally, the commissions’ chair, Shannon O’Brien, has also shared a similar outcome prior to the two managers (1).

WBUR (1), reported that Cedric Sinclair, the chief communications officer, and Justin Shrader, the director of human resources, were suspended from their positions by Debbie Hilton-Creek, who is the acting Executive Director, recently. It appears that not long from receiving the suspension, Shrader has since resigned from his position and the job is now vacant (1). As of now, there is no explanation for these suspensions within the agency. “A commission spokesperson declined to answer questions for this story, saying the agency does not comment on ‘internal personnel matters.’,” (1). WBUR had also attempted to reach out to Shrader and Sinclair but were unable to get comments on the matter (1).

“The management staff overseeing the commission, the agency, is in disarray,” Massachusetts Senator Michael Moore said (1). “We need an oversight hearing. We need to find out what’s going on, what’s taken place.” Senator Moore has previously favored for an examination to be done on the state’s Cannabis Control Commission (1).

Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, selected O’Brien for the chair position back in 2022 but received a suspension in September 2023 because of “racially, ethnically, culturally insensitive” comments (1). O’Brien is now claiming that the Cannabis Control Commission agency is “in crisis” and needs to be improved (1).

Lawmakers are seeing the agency struggle, while trying to manage the state’s growing cannabis industry (1).

“This agency, to have lost basically all of its management team in 10 to 11 months, I think that signifies that there’s a problem there,” Moore commented (1).

With so many staff changes, it can lead to uncertainty on how the Cannabis Control Commission will be structured in the future. Hopefully, the agency will find some stability soon and be able to manage the state’s cannabis industry.

Reference

1. Wuthmann, W. 2 Top Managers Suspended at Cannabis Control Commission https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/12/11/massachusetts-legalized-pot-agency-susensions (accessed Dec 12, 2023).