Boston Herald

Watch state Ganja Gang as it grows like a weed

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It’s good to have friends in high places. Just ask members of the brand, spankin’ new Cannabis Control Commission.

Oh wait. You can’t because state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, Attorney General Maura Healey and Gov. Charlie Baker have gone silent on the state’s newest budding bureaucrac­y. What do we know? It pays to be in the Ganja Gang — they’re stoked.

The chair of the CCC will pull in $160,000 annually with the other four commission­ers making $120,000 a head.

But what really makes a bureaucrac­y bloated is the people. Multitudes of people. On the treasurer’s web page can be found 10 magic, little words: “Once appointed, the CCC will need to fill key positions.” I’ll bet they will. Behind the five commission­ers will

come a slew of other “key” personnel, including, undoubtedl­y a smattering of administra­tive staff along with bunches of investigat­ors, legal counsel and licensing staff.

The Department of Public Health will be in charge of making sure pot brownies get us just high enough, but not too high.

The industry will explode, state government will expand and the era of pot patronage will begin.

In addition, any logical person would have to conclude that we might find, down the road, that inhaling hot, unfiltered plant smoke into our lungs could be detrimenta­l to our health.

That means high times are ahead for those in fields involving litigation, medication, hospitaliz­ation and — for those looking to escape the state’s 20 percent tax by jumping into the black market — incarcerat­ion.

I don’t mean to be a buzz kill. Maybe if Deb, Maura and Charlie could give us a clue as to who will be overseeing this scourge, I mean exciting new venture — it would be easier to chill out.

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