After turmoil in the agency, a person who is comfortable discussing the mundanities of arcane government procedure is the right person for the job.
Talk to Travis Ahern, and he sounds, to put it bluntly, like a slightly boring government functionary. That’s not a bad thing. In fact, that’s probably exactly what a state government agency executive director should sound like.
The catch is that Ahern is the new executive director of the Cannabis Control Commission, and cannabis tends to attract … personalities. The clashes between former executive director Shawn Collins and former commission chair Shannon O’Brien are the stuff of workplace complaints and litigation. The agency has made headlines for its extraordinary staff turnover, fueled by allegations of workplace bullying. The agency has failed to accomplish basic operations like fee collection. The state Inspector General called for putting the commission in receivership, calling it “a rudderless agency without a clear indication of who is responsible for running its day-to-day operations.”
So perhaps a man who doesn’t have strong feelings about cannabis policy — he said he personally doesn’t use the drug — and who is comfortable discussing the mundanities of arcane government procedure is the right person for the job.
While Ahern was willing to sit with me recently for an hourlong interview at the commission’s Worcester headquarters, none of his comments would make headlines — and that’s intentional. Ahern said he’d like to see more stories about cannabis policy, not the foibles of its regulators. “I don’t want to see stories about commissioners and staff,” Ahern said. “I’d like to think we’re beyond that.”
Before coming to the Cannabis Control Commission in March, Ahern, who lives in Wayland, worked for four years as the Holliston town administrator. He was previously policy and finance director for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Advisory Board and has worked in municipal government finance jobs in Danvers and Weston. Ahern was the commission’s second choice after David Lakeman turned down the job.
Ahern told me he was drawn to the job because it’s a “policy-rich” opportunity, and he wasn’t scared by what he sees as “growing pains” of an agency that was formed just eight years ago to stand up a completely new industry. His last task in Holliston involved determining how to switch from a town administrator to a town manager format of government, and he sees that as similar to the job he now faces finalizing and implementing a new governance charter for the Cannabis Control Commission,which the commission approved at a public meeting May 22. The goal is to clarify the authority of the executive director versus the commissioners, which has long been a source of friction.
“My focus is ensuring the governance document explains in the future, should there be a conflict that arises between the chair and the executive director, how that is handled,” Ahern said.
The commission itself is down from five to three members, with O’Brien’s position tied up in litigation and Commissioner Nurys Camargo’s resignation more than three months before her term ends Sept. 1. But the agency has been replacing its senior staff, including hiring a new chief financial and accounting officer and a new general counsel in 2024.
There are signs of progress. Rules to authorize long-delayed social consumption licenses — allowing venues like marijuana cafes and events — are expected to be promulgated in September.
The commission has issued several administrative orders aimed at improving lab testing, amid allegations of fraud. Ahern said he is hiring a consultant and working with the testing labs and state agencies to determine the best path forward to ensure accurate testing, possibly with a state-run reference lab.
But challenges remain. While legislation gave the commission authority to review the host community agreements municipalities sign with marijuana businesses, questions have emerged over what happens when an agreement can’t be reached that complies with state law and whether businesses can sue over excessive fees retroactively. Ongoing litigation involving three dispensaries in Great Barrington could decide these issues.
The industry has long struggled to ensure that entrepreneurs from communities disproportionately affected by prior enforcement of drug laws can enter the industry. Ahern said the commission is extending an exclusivity period for “social equity” licensees in delivery businesses, and the start of social consumption will provide another entry point restricted to social equity participants.
Ahern sees his top challenge as convincing the Legislature to increase Governor Maura Healey’s proposed $19.88 million budget for the agency in fiscal 2026, a figure that’s been flat since 2024. Ahern argues that it will be impossible to implement needed reforms — particularly improving the agency’s information technology system — without a budget increase. But with the budget heading into a conference committee, both the House and Senate agreed to keep the budget flat, leading Ahern to impose a hiring freeze within the agency.
Understandably, lawmakers are hesitant to increase the budget for a troubled agency. But Ahern has plans to proceed with a procurement process, so the project is ready whenever funding becomes available.
Ahern wouldn’t offer personal opinions on hot issues. He won’t say if he supports lifting a cap on the number of cannabis licenses one business can own. With marijuana prices dropping, he made clear that the market dictates price and it’s not the commission’s role to intervene beyond ensuring a fair playing field.
Ahern supported legalization because he doesn’t think it makes sense to treat marijuana differently from alcohol (for the record, he doesn’t drink alcohol either), and his views are driven by that framework. Why, he asks, should allowing social consumption of marijuana be different from licensing a brewery with a taproom?
“It’s not that I’m interested in cannabis specifically, I’m interested in why public policy questions have to be so much more difficult as it relates to cannabis,” Ahern said.
The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission rarely makes news. If Ahern gets his way, maybe soon the Cannabis Control Commission won’t, either.
Shira Schoenberg can be reached at shira.schoenberg@globe.com. Follow her @shiraschoenberg.
After turmoil in the agency, a person who is comfortable discussing the mundanities of arcane government procedure is the right person for the job. Read More
