“We have a lot of things we are working on and I’m thinking of the person who has full command of the issues and can hit the ground running.”
David Lakeman is currently the head of the cannabis division at the Illinois Department of Agriculture—a position he has held since September 2020. He is familiar with cannabis policy in Massachusetts and the commission itself, having served as head of government affairs at the Cannabis Control Commission between 2018 and 2020.
The agency has been without an executive director since the fall of 2023, when Shawn Collins resigned from the post. The commission’s chief people officer, Debra Hilton-Creek, has held the role of acting executive director in the interim.
Following interviews of the four candidates up for the position, the commission quickly and unanimously landed on Lakeman.
“I see Mr. Lakeman as someone who is well versed in the Massachusetts cannabis industry but [who] also built an agency in Illinois,” said Commissioner Kimberly Roy. “Stakeholders want to see
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