Lawmakers assembly to listen to public testimony on a number of payments geared toward altering the way in which the hashish business works within the Bay State as a substitute obtained an earful from audio system who say pot regulators should not listening to whistleblowers and retaliating towards licensees who complain.
According to testimony offered by the CEO and founding father of the state’s first unbiased marijuana testing lab, the Cannabis Control Commission responded to his reporting what he described as severe public well being issues by launching an investigation into his enterprise.
“The investigation was then cited by the CCC as an excuse to prevent us from engaging with commissioners regarding consumer safety. I believe CCC enforcement staff may be misusing investigations as a pretext to silence and harass licensees,” CEO Michael Kahn informed the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy throughout a Tuesday listening to.
Kahn informed lawmakers he was testifying in assist of S.58 and H.106, or “An Act establishing an internal special audit unit within the Cannabis Control Commission,” which he stated would forestall waste and abuse.
“I reached out to the CCC with concerns about public health on multiple occasions over the past several years. Instead of listening or taking action, CCC staff, in my opinion, retaliated by opening an investigation into our laboratory,” he stated.
Kahn stated that later, after he had given a presentation about lab fraud within the hashish business, greater than half-a-dozen CCC workers arrived at his place of job.
“Eight CCC enforcement staff conducted a six hour long inspection at MCR that I believe was unfocused and unprofessional,” he stated.
CCC workers later demanded “about 20,000 pages” of paperwork, Kahn testified, and made his enterprise present them roughly 30,000 hours of video feed.
“Why?” he requested commissioners. “Who is watching that?”
Kahn testified that CCC workers “verbally commanded MCR to change its policies” in such a manner that they might have been in violation of state laws, had the corporate complied.
Speaking on the listening to, Kahn stated, appeared his solely recourse regardless of the very fact it could trigger extra alleged harassment.
“I believe they are likely to retaliate against me and MCR simply for speaking to this committee,” Kahn informed lawmakers.
The state’s hashish regulators are “unpredictable, arbitrary, and unaccountable,” Dan Delaney, government director of the Association of Cannabis Testing Laboratories, informed lawmakers, earlier than saying Kahn’s expertise will not be distinctive.
“Licensees recognize the power that the CCC has and understandably fear retaliation if they contest the commission’s intent or actions,” he stated. “I’ve heard it from other labs and I’ve heard it from other licensees outside the lab testing space. The real problem is structural.”
“The Cannabis Control Commission oversees the cannabis industry, but no one oversees the Cannabis Control Commission,” Delaney stated.
In a response to Kahn’s accusations, a spokesperson for the CCC stated the company is happy with how they go in regards to the enterprise of making certain licensees are in compliance with state legal guidelines and laws.
“The agency currently has several ongoing enforcement matters regarding MCR Labs. Relative to this licensee’s testimony, Commission staff completed an unannounced inspection in March 2023 at another Independent Testing Lab (ITL) the week prior to the MCR Labs inspection for some of the same reasons and looking for similar records. With regards to other investigations referenced during the hearing that remain ongoing, the agency will not comment at this time,” the spokesperson informed the Herald.
Inspections, the spokesperson stated, even unannounced inspections, are required to ensure that the fee to see how any marijuana institution is working second to second.
“Investigators are not required to disclose the purpose of their investigation while on site. In fact, staff have an obligation to protect the integrity of Commission investigations to find the truth. Only then can Commissioners review and act on findings without preconceived notions or bias,” the spokesperson stated.
The Herald reached out to MCR Labs to see if the corporate had a press release aside from the testimony delivered by its CEO, however they didn’t reply by press time.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”