REFERENCE OR WATCH:
WATCH THE LIVE STREAM VIDEO: PART 1, PART 2, AFTER MEETING
New Public Documents on Cannabis Control Commission Website:
- Executive Summary – Cultivate Holdings, LLC – (MPN281305)
- Executive Summary – Northeast Alternatives, INC.- (MRN281314)
- Executive Summary – Alternative Therapies Group, Inc. – (MRN281255)
- Executive Summary – CDX Analytics, LLC- (ILN281275)
- Executive Summary – MCR LABS, LLC- (ILN281278)
- Draft – Meeting Minutes | 08/09/18 | Cannabis Control Commission
- Licensing Volume as of 08/23/2018
- Medical Marijuana Regulatory Timeline
- JOB: Contract Hearing Officer Position for Approval
- Host Community Agreement Overview
- Total number of license applications that have submitted all required packets by county as of August 23, 2018
AGENDA
A) CHAIRMAN UPDATES
- APPROVAL OF Meeting Minutes | 08/09/18
B) UPDATES FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
- STAFFING
- NEW CCC EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
- LICENSE APPLICATIONS STATUS
C) MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGULATORY TRANSITION TIMELINE
D) DISCUSSION ON HOST COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS: VOTES
E) STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS ON COMPLETED LICENSING APPLICATIONS
F) NEXT MEETING
A) CHAIRMAN UPDATES
APPROVAL OF Meeting Minutes | 08/09/18
Language Modifications: Will be placed for review at next meeting’s agenda.
Shaleen: *insert waiver form should be created.
Shaleen: Assuming that the community impact fee is truly a related cost, rather than a 3% fee without documented costs
Shaleen: Revaluate it’s previous decisions
B) UPDATES FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
- STAFFING
Research analyst: Samantha Doonan
- POSITION:
Hearing Officer : Contract Position
PAST EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
• Juris Doctor from an accredited law program.
• Member of the Massachusetts Bar or another state bar in good standing.
• Minimum four-year experience practicing law in the public sector, in private practice, or in a nonprofit or corporate legal department.
• Experience or expertise in administrative law, especially as it pertains to licensing and enforcement actions.
• Experience or familiarity with laws governing adult- or medical – use marijuana or an interest in developing an expertise in this emerging area of the law.
- LICENSE APPLICATIONS STATUS
112 applicants have submitted all 4 packets.
69 RMD
3 Economic Empowerment Applicants
40 General Applicants
C) MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGULATORY TIMELINE
There will be at least one public hearing to incorporate public feedback.
Shaleen: Public comment on the 29th does not give us enough time for discussion.
Collins: As we collect them we will be organizing them.
Title: What’s the process for developing the draft?
Collins: We’ve been talking with Department of Public Health to understand their existing regulation. We plan to assume the program as it exists today. We’ll keep most of the vendors.
Hoffman: Draft will be reviewed publicly Sep 6. When will commission have a copy of the draft?
Collins: Early next week. There’s also a transfer of the Marijuana Trust Fund. Kristine Bailey is trying to understand how we make those transfers by looking at the contracts. We also want to make sure data is protected.
D) DISCUSSION ON HOST COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS
COMMISSION DISCUSSION & VOTES: Should commission review host community agreements who may be asking for more than the 3% of applicant.
Q: Should Cannabis Control Commission review host community agreements before approving applicants?
IN FAVOR: YES, Shaleen Title
AGAINST: Flanagan, Doyle, Hoffman, Mcbride
1: 4 NOT PASSED
Hoffman: If we were to review host community agreements as our final licensing process: could we do it? How much time and resources would it take? That’s what we want the Executive Director will present:
Collins: The Commission will have a team of inspectors that will visit facilities during the application process of provisional licenses. We would have to train folks, there’s a good chance they would not be attorneys. These are not massive documents each one could take about an hour. This is also factoring the fact that they are not attorneys.
Flanagan: Who is providing training for our inspectors and is there an actual training program that will we use, or will we have to create it?
Collins: Training would be developed by me or senior staff.
Flanagan: What will be considered critical information? Today we are talking about 3% and impact fees. What information are we looking to extract for our purposes?
Collins: Extract information needed for compliance: term of contract, community impact fee related to 3%
Flanagan: When we talk about the inspectors who will not be attorneys, will they have legal back up? What if we get sued? What legal backup are we going to have?
Collins: This would report to the chief of investigations, as well as Christine Bailey our legal council. I am confident in out ability.
McBride; How the Commissioners be given the neccessary data, I don’t have the proper background. How long would the evaluation process take?
Collins: It largely depends on the information being sought. As well as the availability of the information from the municipality.
Title: In our application and inspection process: Who performs review for legal documents, management contracts, property leases.
Collins; Director of licensing.
Title: How is the training done for that?
Collins: The training for that was a number of us developing procedures and protocols.
Title: Do we have to right to ask for contracts that the licensee has signed?
Collins: We have the ability to inspect documents.
Title: what is the time for the whole application process?
Collins: Depends on the license type, the facility, the activities being conducted. The hour estimate was based on a 10 page contract.
Title: Would we need to hire any additional staff?
Collins: No, the volume of inspectors will depend on the number of applications.
Title: Have any concerns been made about the need for attorneys for the rest of the application process?
Collins: Not that I know of.
Title: Do you think our investigative team is capable of reviewing host community agreements and determining if the impact fee is more than 3%?
Collins: The abilities of investigators and contractors will vary. I would feel uncomfortable saying that a non-lawyer would be capable of reviewing a contract.
COMMISSIONER TITLE PROPOSAL REVIEW
Title: The commission will require applicants to submit host community agreements and review them as part of its licensing process. The scope of review: making sure community impact fee is 1. reasonably related to the cost imposed by the municipality, 2. not more than 3% of the gross sales , limited to a term of 5 years.
Doyle: What about donations made by companies, how can we address that? The way it is phrased we are just looking at the community impact fee. What about the donations that fall outside of the community impact fee? Municipalities have said community impact fees are one thing that is authorized, but other donations are allowed. How would we handle the other donations?
Title: That would be extracted with the information. We can expand the community impact fee section here and put referring to costs imposed upon the company.
Doyle: My honest answer is I don’t think so.
Hoffman: I’ve listened to this conversation and spoke with as many attorneys as I possibly could and read as many host community agreements as I possibly could. 1. There are some issues with the Host Community agreements I have seen. 2. There is ambiguity.
Not only do we have the right, but we have the obligation to review these documents, and at least not approve the applicant.
I don’t think we should include a review of the host community agreements in the application process. I do think we should study them I think we should ask voluntary of all applicants.
Flanagan: This is a very messy issue
Title: What more information do you need to evaluate that we need to have a review system?
Hoffman: no answer.
Flanagan: When we talk about impact fees, we are forecasting how much it will cost the town. We don’t know what the impact is.
Shaleen: The legislature laid out a specific answer for that process, you start by looking at your anticipated costs, you can’t charge more than 3%, you document the costs and then there are public records, and after 5 years you review.
Hoffman: There are issues specifically with the fees, the payments, mandatory negotiation. We need to study it.
Title: For March and April, what do we do for licensees then?
Hoffman: We continue the processes that currently exist.
Doyle: I tried to find a way to see if there were any processes that could stand up to a legal argument. The concern I have is we are going to be holding a lot of people up. There is no clear law that determines what is okay. I would feel more comfortable asking the legislature for help. When and if that statute is amended perhaps there will be a period to reform contracts to make sure they are in line.
McBride: It’s our job to establish balanced regulatory process, and that’s different than government run process. And we have no authority. This will create a delay. We can’t force a municipality to renegotiate a contract. I would implore us to move forward.
Title: This process of reviewing community agreements is probably one of the most important. We only have 35 medical dispensaries. We’ve tried to reduce the barriers, we made an equity program. We’ve worked with farmers and entrepreneurs. All of that means nothing because that is the number one barrier to entry. I want the record to show that I did as much as I could, we came back with time and resources it would take. We can’t pretend that we haven’t seen those agreements, we have seen them. If we don’t set parameters now, what is to stop a big Marijuana Company from coming in and establishing an agreement with a million dollar donation fee? There is a limit and I think we need to enforce it.
Flanagan: I know what happens when you make the wrong decision. Question 4 did not talk about farmers, we need to include the farmers, we have transporters, we have micro businesses that we have established in our regulations.
The reality is you need money to be part of this industry, and while not everybody is going to own the businesses, people have the ability to work for the businesses that will be licensed. And while that does not make everybody happy, we cannot be everything to everyone at all times. I have concerns that we are going to be sued. Massachusetts is set up 351 independently operating cities and towns.
VOTE:
MOTION: The Commission will require applicants to submit community host agreements and will review them as part of the licensing process. Scope and review will be limited to 1. ensuring licenses are compliant with 94G community impact fee is 1. reasonably related to the cost imposed by the municipality, 2. not more than 3% of the gross sales , limited to a term of 5 years.
IN FAVOR: YES, Shaleen Title
AGAINST: Flanagan, Doyle, Hoffman, Mcbride
1: 4 NOT PASSED
AFTER THOUGHTS:
Hoffman: We will make a request for applicants to share their host community agreement.
Doyle: We are in the process of gathering data from municipalities.
E) STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS ON COMPLETED LICENSING APPLICATIONS
Executive Summary – Cultivate Holdings, LLC – (MPN281305) product manufacturer
Executive Summary – Northeast Alternatives, INC.- (MRN281314) retailer
Executive Summary – Alternative Therapies Group, Inc. – (MRN281255) retailer
0ne individual from Hawaii and Nevada
LABS
Executive Summary – CDX Analytics, LLC- (ILN281275)
Executive Summary – MCR LABS, LLC- (ILN281278)
F) NEXT MEETING
Thursday, September 6th 2018 1:00 PM
MA Health Policy Commission
50 Milk Street, 8th Floor Boston, MA 02109