Brandon Pollock, CEO of Bridgewater-based marijuana company Theory Wellness, has approximately eight state-issued badges. He needs different badges to enter each of the company’s dispensaries and the company’s growing facilities. Getting each badge requires the company to fill out paperwork and pay a fee.
“We have an employee in human resources, and a lot of his time is keeping track of a complex spreadsheet of all employees, which locations they work at, and when their badges expire,” Pollock said.
When Massachusetts set up its marijuana regulation system, the industry was young and controversial, and state officials acted conservatively in setting up a system of strong regulations intended to closely monitor businesses.
As the industry has settled, and now that regulators have observed several years of operations, some regulations should be reconsidered to make it easier to do business. One such regulation is the system for “badging,” providing state-issued identity cards to everyone who works for a marijuana business.
Given the sensitive nature of working with marijuana, which is still federally illegal, it makes sense for the state to require background checks and registration for every marijuana company employee. That ensures companies comply with state regulations, which, among other requirements, disqualify anyone convicted of certain felony offenses from working for a marijuana business.
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What doesn’t make sense is requiring companies to pay for a new badge for the same employee for every license that company owns. For example, if a retail employee wants to work some shifts at Theory Wellness’s Great Barrington dispensary and some shifts at its Chicopee dispensary, that person needs two badges. Even more absurd, if one employee wants to sell both medical and recreational marijuana to customers at the Chicopee store, that employee needs two badges, since the same store sells medical marijuana and recreational marijuana under two different licenses.
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The main benefit to the state of having this rule is it generates revenue. Companies pay $115 to register an employee under a recreational marijuana license. Registration must be renewed after one year, then every three years. Registration costs $500 per employee under a medical marijuana license, also renewable after one year, then every three years.
The Cannabis Control Commission could require companies to list an employee’s working locations when they apply for their registration. But requiring duplicate paperwork and fees only adds redundancy to the system, raising money for the state at business operators’ expense.
At the Cannabis Control Commission’s January meeting, acting commission chair Bruce Stebbins said that of the more than 28,000 marijuana employees with badges, nearly 6,500 hold multiple badges.
Industry advocates told the editorial board they are unaware of any other jurisdiction with this requirement. At the January meeting, Commissioner Kimberly Roy said, “We all agree it doesn’t make sense the way it is.”
To its credit, the commission is already considering changing this rule during its next round of regulatory review, which is expected to begin this summer or fall.
Regulators could, in the future, have a broader discussion about badging.
The agency is looking into the possibility of digital badges, Stebbins said at the public meeting.
Stebbins has raised other concerns: A laid off employee can’t immediately get hired by a new marijuana company because they have to wait for a new badge. There’s also no easy way for one employee to work for multiple companies — for example, if outdoor growers want to share seasonal agricultural workers — without each company applying for a badge.
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There are pros and cons to a system where the employee owns their badge versus one where the company does. There may be simple ways to solve some of these problems, like letting a worker who was licensed with one company but changed jobs work for a period of time while their application for a new badge is pending.
But the first step should be changing the policy of requiring multiple badges for one worker at one company. It’s unfair to force companies to pay for extra badges that serve little purpose.
Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.
