(BOSTON 11/25/2025) — Last week, the Massachusetts Senate acted to reform oversight of the maturing cannabis industry by reorganizing the state’s regulatory agency and making targeted updates that support recreational consumers and small businesses. The reforms come after several years of legislators calling for reforms, led by Second Worcester District Senator Michael Moore who has written several letters calling for more oversight of the CCC and introduced legislation creating an internal special audit unit within the agency.
The legislation approved by the Senate – An Act modernizing the Commonwealth’s cannabis laws, S.2722 – takes into account the cannabis industry’s growth over the past seven years by streamlining the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), which would now operate with three members including a chair appointed directly by the Governor.
The bill updates licensure policies to meet the needs of businesses and consumers today and in the future, allowing retailers to expand and hold a maximum of four licenses and removing operational barriers for smaller companies to enter the medical marijuana market. Following the successful introduction of recreational consumption since voters approved legalization in 2016, recreational consumers would be allowed to possess a maximum of two ounces, an increase from the current one-ounce limit.
During debate, an amendment introduced by Senator Michael Moore passed to maintain the ability of CCC Commissioners to receive complaints and information regarding the quality, efficiency, and integrity of the CCC’s programs and operations. This enhances the Commission’s oversight powers despite S.2722’s new language that builds a stronger firewall between Commissioners and ongoing investigations being conducted by CCC employees. Amendment 3 was adopted with unanimous support.
“It is certainly no secret that the Cannabis Control Commission has been facing serious dysfunction and scandal since it was created in 2016. This legislation takes a reasonable and considered approach to reforming this troubled agency based on the structures of regulating agencies that we know work right here in Massachusetts,” said Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “I’m also pleased that my amendment protecting whistleblowers received the unanimous support of my colleagues. The CCC’s Commissioners are meant to serve a dual role – both as a regulator of the cannabis industry, and as a regulator of the Cannabis Control Commission itself. While I understand the purpose of building a firewall between Commissioners and the work being done by the CCC itself, given the myriad scandals the agency has faced over the last several years, language in this bill should not stop Commissioners’ ability to receive whistleblower reports and other feedback about the agency’s work. This amendment clarifies that the path of whistleblower reports still goes through the Commissioners who have the power to immediately take action to correct failures of the agency they oversee.”
The House of Representatives passed a version of the bill on June 4, 2025, based on several separate bills for which public testimony was solicited earlier this year by the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy.
Senators filed and considered 59 amendments to the bill. One of the amendments adopted during today’s session, Amendment 17, removes some obstacles for social equity businesses by automatically allowing marijuana deliveries in all communities, while preserving local autonomy by allowing municipalities to request the CCC to ban deliveries for two years at a time. Senators also adopted Amendment 33, which directs the CCC to work with medical experts and other agencies to study ongoing federal developments around hemp-derived cannabinoids and a potential regulatory framework for intoxicating hemp products.
Full details of the legislation are available online in the Senate Press Room.
The Senate passed the bill on a 30-7 roll call vote, sending it to the House for further consideration.
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