Shannon O’Brien, chair of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, just laid out a bold plan to turn the state into America’s leading hub for marijuana science. She says the only way to get there is for at least one company to finally take the leap and grab a long-dormant research license.
The catch? Almost nobody wants it under the current rules.
Massachusetts voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016 and sales started in 2018. Since then the state has pulled in more than $5 billion in legal sales and over $1.7 billion in tax revenue. Yet almost zero serious scientific research has happened here, even though the law created a special research license from day one.
O’Brien says that has to change fast. She told commissioners at a public meeting last week that Massachusetts has top universities, world-class hospitals, and a mature cannabis market. All the pieces exist to lead the country in studies on medical benefits, safety, and new products. The missing piece is someone actually using the research permit the state offers.
The Research License Nobody Wants
The CCC has issued only one research license so far, to a tiny operation. Big multi-state operators, the companies with real money and labs, have stayed away.
Here are the main reasons operators give for passing:
- Federal law still lists cannabis as Schedule I, which creates banking and tax headaches for research projects.
- The current license ties every gram of marijuana used in studies to a single licensed grower, which scares off companies that already have their own supply chains.
- Researchers must follow strict seed-to-sale tracking just like regular stores, adding huge costs.
- Any products made during research cannot be sold to regular customers, so companies lose money on everything they grow for studies.
O’Brien calls these rules “roadblocks we built ourselves” and says many of them can be fixed without new laws from the legislature.
How O’Brien Plans to Fix the Problem
The chair wants the commission to vote soon on changes that would make the research license attractive to major players. The biggest proposed tweak would let a research facility partner with any licensed grower in the state instead of being locked to one.
Other ideas on the table include:
- Letting researchers sell certain tested products to medical patients (with tight controls).
- Creating a lower-cost “research-only” track for universities and nonprofits.
- Streamlining the application process that currently takes over a year.
If the changes pass, O’Brien believes the first big research facility could open by late 2025. She already has quiet interest from two national operators and one major university hospital system, sources close to the talks say.
What Real Cannabis Research Could Mean for Patients and Jobs
Right now most medical marijuana claims rest on studies from other countries or small trials before full legalization. Massachusetts could run large, gold-standard trials on chronic pain, PTSD in veterans, epilepsy, and more.
Good data would help doctors feel confident prescribing cannabis and could push insurers to cover it. It would also create hundreds of high-paying jobs in labs, data analysis, and clinical work.
One example already waiting: a local hospital wants to study whether certain cannabis strains reduce opioid use in surgery patients. They cannot move forward until a licensed research site exists.
Next Steps and Timeline
The commission plans to release draft rule changes in early 2025 and take public comments through the spring. A final vote could come by summer.
O’Brien stressed that Massachusetts has a short window to lead. New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut all watch closely and could copy any successful model.
She ended last week’s meeting with a direct plea to operators in the room: “Be the first state where science catches up to the plant. Help us make history.”
The race to build America’s cannabis research capital now sits in the hands of regulators and the companies they hope to attract. Patients, scientists, and an industry looking for legitimacy all wait to see who steps up first.