On Wednesday, June 2, the Cannabis Control Board held its third special meeting, arguably their most substantive meeting to date, with senior lawmakers and lead sponsors of S.54 as guests to walk through Act 164 and bill S.25. The Board also began to define its policy work by beginning to form subcommittees and tasking members with assignments, while they work to conclude their Executive Director search.

As Board Chair Jame Pepper proclaimed at the start of Wednesday’s meeting, this was an important day. The guests in attendance for the meeting reflected that sentiment, some of Vermont’s leading lawmakers for cannabis legislation were present, including Senator Dick Sear, Representative Copeland Hanzas, Senator Chris Pearson, and Michelle Childs, the point-person for cannabis legislation in the office of Legislative Counsel.

During introductions, Senator Sears mentioned that the 2015 RAND report was important to much of their work and that he intended to make it easy for small businesses to get into the market and to help transition those in the illicit market. Senator Person urged that the Board has a lot of work before it and that they should act expeditiously since Act 164’s formation process is significantly behind. At this time, Michelle Childs remarked that Legislative Counsel does not serve the Board and that she was only present for walking through the law and bill S.25.

After introductions and formalities, the Board asked Michelle Childs to overview Act 164, the taxation and regulation law, along with bill S.25, a bill from this legislative session that would reform parts of Act 164 and has yet to be acted upon by the Governor. Act 164 is over 100 pages long, Michelle Childs overview of the new law consumed most of Wednesday’s meeting, only interrupted by lawmakers and Board members weighing in from time to time with comments about their intent and questions about where the Board can take certain authority. Read the previous blog post for a breakdown of bill S.25.

Until the Cannabis Control Board finalizes an Executive Director and establishes a formal meeting structure, they will hold “special meetings” and this past Wednesday, June 2, was its third special meeting and one of the most substantive. After Michelle Childs walked through Act 164 and S.25, the Board recessed for 10-minutes then returned to discuss Board policy and assignments. Chair Pepper began the conversation by suggesting the Board break down Act 164 by priorities, form subcommittees around those priorities, then commit to, at least, a full week of Board deliberation on each issue. The seven priorities the Board established are:

1. Legacy market and small cultivators

2. Social equity

3. Energy and environment And land use

4. Youth prevention and education

5. Consumer protection

6. Maintaining continuity of medical program services

7. Highway safety

Board member Harris also suggested they take this time to define a mission statement, for the Board, and member Hulburd suggested they overlay Act 164’s formation deadlines and consider legislative intent when deciding which priorities to tackle first. This policy conversation is significant because, for the very first time, the Board is beginning to lay its path forward for completing market formation and developing regulation – vital information for small businesses and in efforts to arrive at equity and equality in the market.

At the end of the meeting, the Board voted to enter an executive session, a private conversation, to finalize the proposal to the final candidate for the Executive Director position. This offer will be made public when the Board offers the proposal to the final candidate. We anticipate the Board will have an Executive Director any day, and once they do, they will begin to hold substantive policy meetings in public, tackling their seven priorities for the next few months. VGA and our Coalition will begin to lobby and influence the Board during this process, with the goal of bringing as many Vermonters as possible to speak to the inequalities that currently exist in Act 164, so, together, we can arrive at a fair and equitable, and high-quality craft-centric cannabis marketplace.