Members of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission on Monday lamented the exit of outgoing Commissioner Britte McBride, thanking McBride for her service and dedication to establishing regulations that could bolster the durability and safety of the commonwealth’s young marijuana industry.
McBride’s departure came the same day the commission voted 3-1 to finalize long-sought regulations, including a new licensing framework for the home delivery of marijuana and rules to blunt anti-competitive and monopolistic actions.
Attorney General Maura Healey in 2017 appointed McBride to the commission, which regulates the state’s marijuana industry. Her term on the commission was slated to end next year, but in August she announced plans to step down this fall.
McBride thanked Healey and her colleagues and said she’d been “fortunate to be part of this agency from day one.”
“Nothing we’ve accomplished has been done alone,” she said. “Nothing we’ve struggled with is borne only by a single individual. Collectively we bear criticism, work through problems and we innovate. We still have a lot to do but we have a lot to be proud of.”
Commissioner Jennifer Flanagan described McBride as a helpful “voice of reason” with “true integrity,” noting her willingness to remain on the commission a few weeks longer than intended as regulations were finalized “shows how committed you are to this issue and the people of the commonwealth.”
“Over the course of the last three years, we’ve been part of something historic and monumental,” Flanagan said before the close of Monday’s virtual public hearing. “I can’t thank you enough for being that bridge between the different sides.”
Commissioner Shaleen Title characterized McBride’s departure as “a huge loss.”
“We’ve been so lucky to have you,” Title said. “I can only hope that future commissioners will have your integrity and will care as much as you cared.”
Chairman Steven Hoffman said McBride’s contributions to the group “cannot be overstated,” and said whatever she chose as her next adventure, she’ll be successful.
Monday’s regulations approval came after months of policy revisions as advocates pressed for updated delivery and licensing rules to help small businesses and more diverse communities compete. Some retailers and lawmakers have expressed concerns that the new regulations violate existing statues and may force municipalities to lose out on tax revenue if sales drop at licensed local shops.
McBride, an attorney who held the public safety seat on the commission, told MassLive in August that she’ll explore her options and did not have a specific opportunity lined up.
“I’m really passionate about public policy, I love being a problem solver and I get a lot of joy out of the challenge of building things, which is why this job really spoke to me and why this appointment, I think, really fit with who I am professionally,” she said. “It was something novel and challenging and there were certainly a lot of problems that needed to be solved and a lot of issues that needed to be addressed, so I don’t know what the next thing is going to be but I’m hoping I’ll land on something that combines those elements.”
McBride previously served as legal counsel to the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and deputy counsel to the Massachusetts Senate. She also spent seven years as an assistant attorney general in the Attorney General’s office, where she also served as chief of the Policy and Government Division.
When the commissioners were first appointed in 2017, they shared a borrowed office space and built the agency from the ground up. The commission now has a headquarters in Worcester’s historic Union Station and is an agency of around 65 employees. The state’s legal marijuana industry has generated more than $122 million in tax revenue in its first two years.
Earlier this month, the commission announced that adult-use marijuana retailers in Massachusetts had racked up more than $1 billion in gross sales.
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