The panel that will study and make recommendations on regulating marijuana in Massachusetts — the first piece of a growing regulatory structure — is on track to be finalized by the end of the week when the governor names the final five members.
Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Attorney General Maura Healey both made their required five appointments to the Cannabis Advisory Board by the end of Tuesday.
Baker also must make five appointments to the board and his office said Wednesday his appointments will be announced by the end of the week.
The Cannabis Advisory Board will also include Baker’s five picks and 10 other members, most of whom are specifically named by title in the law. They include the colonel of the Massachusetts State Police or a designee, the secretary of housing and economic development or a designee, the revenue, public health and agricultural resources commissioners, and the heads of the local ACLU chapter and the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
Nichole Snow, president and executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, will also serve on the board and named Michael Latulippe, a medical marijuana patient who works with the alliance, to the board on Tuesday.
By Sept. 1 the three constitutional officers — Baker, Healey and Goldberg — must appoint the five-person Cannabis Control Commission, which will manage the licensing and oversight of the budding industry.
Baker must appoint someone with a background in public health, mental health, substance use, or toxicology; Goldberg must tap someone who has a background in corporate management, finance or securities; and Healey must appoint someone with a background in public safety.
Once the CCC is up and running, it will have to “promulgate regulations, guidelines and protocols necessary for the issuance of (marijuana) licenses” no later than March 15, 2018 and begin accepting applications by April 1, 2018, according to the law.