Massachusetts cannabis chief to resign soon, concluding leadership saga

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Shawn Collins is resigning Dec. 4 as executive director of Massachusetts’ Cannabis Control Commission, ending months of uncertainty surrounding the agency’s leadership.

Acting Chair Ava Callender Concepcion said the agency will find a new executive director and review the role’s job description, according to Springfield TV station WWLP.

Confusion surrounded Collins’ status with the CCC in July after former commission Chair Shannon O’Brien announced that Collins had resigned but was later contradicted by the executive director himself.

Then, in September, O’Brien was suspended as CCC chair and sued Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg over the action. O’Brien later dropped the lawsuit.

In October, Debra Hilton-Creek, previously the CCC’s chief people officer, was appointed acting executive director during Collins’ absence, which he described as a temporary parental leave.

In a Thursday statement released by the CCC, Collins acknowledged he would depart the commission “following the remainder of my parental leave.”

Collins said the “change will be refreshing – not only for me, but for the agency as well.

“After 6 years of working under a microscope and at a breakneck pace, the time is right for me to make that change.”