This June 5, 2017, photo shows a marijuana leaf in the vegetative room at Alaska Cannabis Cultivators in Fairbanks, Alaska. Voters in parts of Alaska will decide in local elections on Tuesday, Oct. 3, whether to ban commercial cannabis operations, including retail stores and cultivation facilities. (Eric Engman/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner via AP)

Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission selects 31-year-old as first director

BOSTON — The state agency created to oversee legal marijuana in Massachusetts has selected its first executive director.

The Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday voted to offer the post to Shawn Collins, the current assistant treasurer and director of policy and legislative affairs under state Treasurer Deb Goldberg.

In that capacity, he helped lay the groundwork for implementation of the voter-approved law that legalized recreational marijuana in the state.

The executive director will serve as the lead staff person and oversee the commission’s daily operations.

The commission says Collins will assume the job after a formal agreement is reached and pending a background check.

MassLive.com reports that Collins is 31 years old, and has had marijuana in his policy portfolio for the past two years.