Massachusetts Pot Board Ready For 1st Meeting

BOSTON, MA — A five-member board in charge of regulating marijuana in Massachusetts is getting down to business.

The nascent Cannabis Control Commission has yet to hire staff and will hold its first public meeting Tuesday in temporary office space near the Statehouse in Boston.

The board is expected to discuss among other things the hiring of an interim executive director and other immediate hiring needs.

Voters in November approved a ballot question about legalizing adult use of recreational marijuana. The commission was named after the Legislature approved a set of revisions to the law in July.

Commission chairman Steven Hoffman says he's committed to meeting a timetable under the law that calls for pot shops to be licensed and begin opening by mid-2018. But Hoffman says he can't guarantee that will happen.

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