Boston Globe | Letter to the Editor: Strict protocols observed in state oversight of cannabis

Bruce Stebbins, the acting chair of the Cannabis Control Commission, authored a Letter to the Editor in today’s Boston Globe. 

Read Letter on Boston Globe’s Website: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/10/25/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-cannabis-control-commission-oversight/ 

Strict protocols observed in state oversight of cannabis 

October 25, 2024 

The article “Testing the limits of cannabis testing” (Page A1, Sept. 29) may have incited unnecessary alarm about the safety of regulated products in our state. The Cannabis Control Commission, which regulates both medical and adult-use cannabis, would like to offer additional context about state oversight. 

Massachusetts became one of the first states to require cannabis testing when voters legalized medical marijuana in 2012. At the time, the Department of Public Health implemented some of the nation’s strictest protocols to ensure products were free from contamination by hazards such as mold and pesticides. 

The Cannabis Control Commission continues to rely on that foundation while it has enhanced protections against the use of other dangerous ingredients, such as vitamin E acetate. It has also taken actions to address potency shopping. Our state’s 13 operating laboratories adhere to International Organization for Standardization protocols. 

Certainly, the commission holds licensees accountable, including labs, either when they don’t follow our regulations or when we improve or clarify our processes. The agency’s testing and investigations teams perform announced and unannounced inspections of labs to observe testing procedures. 

The commission continues to engage licensees throughout the cannabis supply chain for their expertise on testing and has scheduled a public listening session on Nov. 7 to accept more feedback following a summer hearing during which outdoor growers actually advocated for looser testing thresholds in addition to other changes. We will use that input to keep making improvements in Massachusetts. 

Bruce Stebbins 

Acting chair 

Cannabis Control Commission 

Worcester