The Cannabis Control Commission exhibited repeated mismanagement, regulatory noncompliance, and potential favoritism from 2022 through 2024. The commission failed to enforce regulations, maintain adequate internal controls, and keep necessary records. Prorated license fees totaling about $530,000 remain uncollected due to inconsistent waivers and missing documentation. Enforcement actions and fines were not assessed within required timeframes, and the commission lacked a hearing officer to process matters. Procedural inequities created the appearance of impropriety, risked eroding public trust, and introduced potential risks to customers and licensee fairness.
Massachusetts' Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), the agency responsible for overseeing the state's $8 billion marijuana industry, has been plagued by mismanagement, noncompliance with state regulations, and potential favoritism, according to a sweeping audit by Auditor Diana DiZoglio's office. The audit, released last week, covered the commission from 2022 through 2024, and detailed repeated failures in enforcing regulations and maintaining adequate internal controls and records. Auditors reported that the commission not only overlooked regulatory obligations but also created inequities in how cannabis businesses were treated.
One of the audit's most serious findings was the "appearance of potential favoritism and/or impropriety." According to the report, some marijuana companies were compelled to pay prorated fees for license extensions while others were inexplicably excused, with no records kept of when or why fees were waived. The audit estimated that $530,000 in prorated fees remain uncollected. "These procedural inequities created the appearance of potential impropriety, which could erode the public's trust in CCC," the audit said. DiZoglio recommended the CCC improve its internal process for administering prorated fees and urged the agency to "conduct a full reconciliation to identify the total population of all uncollected license extension fees."
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