Statehouse News (sub. req.) reports that the Cannabis Control Commission will unveil draft regulations for public discussion the week of December 11. The CCC plans to hold meetings every day that week to discuss and debate draft regulations, then vote the following week. Following publication of the Draft Regulations, the CCC would – as required by state law – accept public comments before debating final regulations. This must be a sigh of relief for many stakeholders who long feared the April 1, 2018 date on which the CCC is required by statute to accept applications for adult use licenses would be delayed.
While we have encouraged efficiency in the past, there could be peril for the Commonwealth and the nascent industry if the CCC proceeds with too much haste. The Department of Justice has been carefully monitoring the activities of regulators in adult-use states, going so far as to write letters identifying areas of potential non-compliance with the protocols of the enforcement detente established by the so-called Cole Memorandum. If the CCC takes on too much, too quickly, it could create gaps in enforcement and monitoring that threaten the industry's long-term viability, and more importantly, risk public safety. If the CCC is too slow, investment could stall and the will of the voters would be frustrated. To be sure, it's an unenviable balance that Commissioners will need to strike.
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