Press Release  AG Healey Makes Appointment to the Cannabis Control Commission

Boston — Attorney General Maura Healey today announced her office’s appointment of attorney Britte McBride to the Cannabis Control Commission.

McBride, a Lynnfield resident, previously served as Legal Counsel to the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS), Deputy Counsel to the Massachusetts Senate, and for seven years as an Assistant Attorney General in the Attorney General’s Office, where she also served as Chief of the Policy and Government Division.

Last month, Governor Baker signed into law An Act to Ensure Safe Access to Marijuana, which creates a five-member Cannabis Control Commission. The Attorney General, Governor, and Treasurer each appoint one commissioner, and the other two commissioners are appointed jointly.

“Britte will bring vast experience to the Commission after spending more than a decade working at the intersection of law, regulatory policy, and public safety,” said AG Healey. “Her knowledge and expertise in public policy, rule-writing, and government transparency will be an asset to the Commission and the state as this new industry is launched in Massachusetts.”

“I appreciate Attorney General Healey’s confidence,” said McBride. “It is important that we do this right. I look forward to working with my fellow commission members to ensure a thoughtful, transparent process. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and I am excited to get started.”

McBride is a graduate of Holy Cross and Suffolk University Law School. She served as Legal Counsel at the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety between 2005 and 2007, where she worked on policy and legislation.

During her time at the Attorney General’s Office between 2008 and 2014, McBride worked to overhaul the office’s victim compensation system to better serve survivors of violence and their families. McBride oversaw the development of state’s first comprehensive report on human trafficking and worked closely with law enforcement, advocacy organizations, and other states on the drafting of state’s landmark 2012 human trafficking law. She also worked on issues related to civil rights, domestic violence and municipal law, led efforts to support veterans, and developed initiatives around mental health care.

From 2010 to 2011, McBride led the Attorney General Office’s Division of Open Government, which is responsible for enforcement of the Open Meeting Law statewide, during which time she created the Division’s complaint and investigatory process and drafted the first regulations to increase government transparency. She was also one of the managers of the office’s implementation of the HomeCorps program, which provided advocacy to distressed borrowers in Massachusetts during the foreclosure crisis.

As Deputy Counsel to the Massachusetts Senate, McBride provided legal advice to all 40 state senators and their staff, represented the institution’s interests and drafted and reviewed legislation on a wide variety of issues including substance abuse prevention.

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