Governor Maura Healey signed into law a sweeping overhaul of the state’s cannabis regulatory system on Sunday, restructuring the embattled Cannabis Control Commission while raising the number of licenses businesses can hold and increasing legal possession limits for adults.
The law dissolves the current commission and reduces the body from five members to three. The governor has the authority to appoint them under the new law, replacing a system in which appointments were split among the governor, attorney general, and state treasurer. Healey has 30 days to appoint the new panel.
The legislation also expands the number of retail licenses a single entity can hold from three to six, increases the legal possession limit for adults without medical marijuana cards from one ounce to two ounces, and creates new license categories, including for on-site consumption, event-based use, and research.
The Healey administration said that, despite “significant structural changes,” the commission “will continue to operate as an independent agency.” The governor’s office has already begun the process of selecting new commissioners, officials said.
Healey said the changes are intended to strengthen a key sector of the state’s economy.
“The cannabis industry is an important part of the Massachusetts economy — supporting jobs and local businesses and generating revenue for cities and towns,” Healey said in a statement Sunday. “It’s important that we are doing everything we can to make sure this industry is set up for success and that we remain competitive in this fast-growing market.”
The overhaul follows years of turmoil at the commission, including the suspension and then firing of former chair Shannon O’Brien by the state treasurer in 2024 over workplace conduct complaints — a decision later overturned by a judge who found the removal did not follow proper legal procedures — as well as findings of mismanagement and potential favoritism by the state auditor. A 2024 report from Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro described the agency as “rudderless” and lacking clear leadership.
Legislative leaders said the changes are intended to both stabilize the commission and expand opportunity in the state’s cannabis industry.
“This law marks an important step forward in ensuring that as Massachusetts’ cannabis industry evolves, it does so in a way that broadens opportunity and reflects our shared values,” Senate President Karen E. Spilka said in the statement. “It creates meaningful pathways for those historically excluded, updates how consumers safely access legal cannabis, and brings our policies in line with a changing industry.”
The law also eases restrictions on medical marijuana operators by eliminating requirements that businesses grow and process the marijuana they sell. It also strengthens reporting and accountability requirements for companies with outstanding debts and directs regulators to study cannabis use patterns, tax rates, and the regulation of hemp-derived cannabinoid products.
Some cannabis policy advocates said the changes, particularly the increase in license caps, could accelerate corporate consolidation in the industry.
“I think by doubling the ownership limits, we’re going to see much more corporate concentration, and we will lose some small businesses,” Shaleen Title, president of the Parabola Center and a former CCC commissioner, said in a phone interview Sunday.
Title said the changes could reduce competition and drive up prices while undermining the state’s equity programs aimed at supporting businesses owned by people disproportionately affected by past marijuana criminalization.
“It’s a shame because we were actually the only state where our equity program wasn’t held up by lawsuits or otherwise undermined by large corporations,” she said. “It took several years, but now it seems like that’s going to happen, and it’s tough for me to see that.”
Nathan Metcalf can be reached at nathan.metcalf@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @natpat_123.