Long-awaited advisory board chosen for RI Cannabis Control Commission. Here's who's on it.
PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s new Cannabis Control Commission now has its required advisory board to help guide the future path of the state’s marijuana industry.
Gov. Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio on Thursday announced their picks for the 11 voting members of the board, which will assist the three-member commission in its many functions, including crafting new regulations and reviewing the qualifications of license applicants for new marijuana stores.
Under the law passed last year legalizing recreational marijuana, the three political leaders were responsible for appointing the advisory board’s voting members, with the governor picking three, the House speaker four and the Senate president four. The advisory board will also have eight non-voting members.
Who is on the advisory board?
McKee’s appointments:
Ronald Crosson II, of Providence, will serve as chair and social equity officer of the Cannabis Advisory Board. Currently the executive director of Urban Ventures, Inc. in Providence, where he assists small businesses in underserved communities, Crosson also serves on the board of the Providence Public Building Authority and Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island.
Angela Bannerman Ankoma, of Providence, has been vice president and executive director of equity leadership with the Rhode Island Foundation since November 2020. Previously, Ankoma was executive vice president and director of community investment with the United Way of Rhode Island and served in multiple capacities with the state Department of Health from 2008 to 2017.
Stuart J. Procter, of Cumberland, has worked for more than 20 years in the analytical instrumentation industry, serving the cannabis industry for the last five years. Procter is also a co-founder and current laboratory director of PureVita Laboratories, a cannabis testing facility.
More: RI's new Cannabis Control Commission met with the public. Here's what RIers had to say
Shekarchi’s appointments:
Angelyne E. Cooper-Bailey, of Cranston, is legal counsel in the state Department of Labor and Training. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Roger Williams University School of Law and is a part-time municipal court judge in Cranston.
Michael A. DiLauro, of Warwick, retired last year after 41 years in the state Public Defenders Office. He was most recently the director of training and legislative liaison for the office, previously serving as an assistant public defender. He is the owner and manager of the Just Criminal Justice Group, which provides training, education and advocacy for individuals affected by the justice system.
Melina Lodge, of Warwick, has been the executive director of the Housing Network of Rhode Island since 2015. Previously she was the program manager for the Community Housing Land Trust of Rhode Island, a research coordinator for Rhode Island Housing and a strategic planner for both the Westerly Area Rest Meals (WARM) Inc. and for the Rhode Island Center Assisting those in Need.
Armand T. Lusi, of Warwick, a principal of Evergreen Gardens LLC, is the president of the Rhode Island Cultivator Industry Association. Under the terms of the legislation, the House speaker must appoint a representative of the cultivation industry to the advisory board. Lusi is also the president of Lusi Construction, a company founded by his father in 1950.
Ruggerio’s appointments:
Emily R. Almeida, of Cranston, is quality and compliance manager for Green Thumb Industries – Rhode Island and represents the Senate president’s cannabis retail industry representative appointment.
Mary J. Archibald, of North Providence, has been a truancy officer and school social worker for Providence Public Schools since 1998 and an adjunct teacher in Rhode Island College’s Sociology Department and School of Social Work since 2003. She was previously a state social worker.
Dioscaris R. Garcia, of Pawtucket, is a pharmacologist and microbiologist specializing in cell signaling and infectious diseases. He is an assistant professor and co-director of the Diane N. Weiss Center for Orthopedic Trauma Research at Brown University.
Nicole M. Verdi, of Providence, is a lawyer and head of government affairs and policy, New England, for Ørsted Americas. She previously served as chief legal counsel to the Senate president and deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Gina Raimondo.
In a prepared statement, McKee said the advisory board appointments "represent a diverse slate of candidates who possess a wide range of experience that will prove critical in their new roles.”
Shekarchi and Ruggerio said, “Rhode Island’s cannabis legalization law is aimed at more than simply ending the policy of prohibition. It is also about righting past wrongs and building a new industry in as fair and equitable a manner as possible. This diverse advisory board brings a broad range of perspectives and insight to assist the Cannabis Control Commission in their mission.”
What will the advisory board do?
Rhode Island currently has seven marijuana dispensaries. Last year’s legalization allows for an additional 24 retail-only stores geographically spaced around the state and with a quarter of those new licenses saved for so-called “social-equity” applicants and another quarter for worker-owned cooperatives.
One of the commission’s missions will be determining how and when those additional stores open.
Kim Ahern, chairwoman of the Cannabis Control Commission, said she looked forward to hearing from the board on an array of topics, "including public health, public safety, industry perspective and social equity. ... They have an important role to play in advising the Cannabis Control Commission as we carry out our statutory obligation to oversee the regulation, licensing and control of adult use and medical cannabis in our state.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The 11 voting members of RI Cannabis Control advisory board are chosen
