Report: Massachusetts governor expected to fire cannabis czar

After winning back her job through the courts after an ugly political dispute, Massachusetts’ top cannabis regulator is likely on her way out anyway.

Shannon O’Brien, who was reinstated last fall as the chair of the state Cannabis Control Commission overseeing the state’s $1.65 billion annual industry, is expected to be removed from her role by Gov. Maura Healey, the Boston Globe reported.

O’Brien’s likely exit is part of an overall shakeup at the CCC that’s part of a general reimagining of Massachusetts cannabis.

While sales in Massachusetts remain strong, familiar troubles like price compression are affecting the market, where tweaks like a freeze on cultivation permits are under consideration.

Why is Massachusetts likely removing its top cannabis regulator?

In April, Healey signed into law an overhaul of the state’s cannabis rules that included raising the number of retail licenses allowed per permit-holder from three to six.

That bill also reduced the number of commissioners on the CCC from five to three – and gave the governor sole appointment power.

According to the Globe, the controversy around O’Brien’s removal and return may be enough to convince the governor to pursue a fresh start with someone else.

It’s unclear who Healey will name to the commission in O’Brien’s stead. A spokesperson for the governor told the Globe that names will be announced by a Tuesday deadline.

What did Massachusetts’ cannabis czar accomplish?

A former state treasurer who was first appointed to the CCC in 2022, O’Brien served as chair until her 2023 suspension.

She was fired a year later amid allegations of “bullying” and racial insensitivity, but won back her job, with back pay, after a lawsuit that concluded this past fall.

A state audit released last summer, when O’Brien was still on the sidelines, found “widespread dysfunction” at the agency.

In an interview with MJBizDaily earlier this year, O’Brien said she wanted to streamline affairs for state cannabis businesses and encourage operators to pursue a “research lab” license category that to date has never been awarded.

O’Brien also intended to impose stricter cannabis testing laboratory protocols, including standardized THC testing, to combat the longstanding issues of potency inflation and lab shopping.

According to the Globe, those efforts may be on pause as well.

Commissioner Kim Roy, whom O’Brien had empowered to investigate the lab-testing issue, may also depart the CCC, the newspaper reported.