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Connecticut’s Office of Healthcare Advocate is looking for a cannabis ombudsperson to monitor the medical marijuana industry in the state.
The job, offering a salary between $88,710 and $161,639 annually, was posted on Dec. 23 — just before the six-month mark of Public Act No. 23-79, which the Connecticut General Assembly passed on June 26.
The law, “An Act Concerning Cannabis Regulation,” called for the creation of the ombudsperson office in section 49.
“The appointed individual must be familiar with the palliative use of marijuana and the medical cannabis system,” the act states.
The job posting, accepting applications until Jan. 23, also states that the appointed ombudsperson must represent the interests of patients and caregivers and monitor and analyze the state industry.
The ombudsperson will also be responsible for recommending any changes to the “development and implementation of federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and other government policies and actions concerning the health, safety and welfare and rights of qualifying patients and caregivers.”
Sean King, acting executive of the Office of Healthcare Advocate, offered insight into process to post the position.
“We had to work with some of our partners at the Department of Administrative Services, which oversees the (human resources) functions for the state, as well as the Office of Policy and Management, which deals with making sure that there's a budget for it and how much the position is going to pay,” King said.
Those details aren’t spelled out in the June law; creating an entirely new position, office and job class took time and collaboration, King said.
The law states that the ombudsperson’s office “is in the healthcare advocate’s office for administrative purposes only” — King said once appointed, the ombudsperson would act outside the OHA.
“It's technically a completely separate office from us,” King said. “While we have the authority to appoint the ombudsperson, that person is really largely acting independent of anything that the Office of the Healthcare Advocate does.”
He said that, in part, is why the OHA was ideal for appointing the ombudsperson.
“My understanding is that there was an interest in having it placed or associated with an agency that has some independence from outside political pressures,” King said. “And because our office fits that description, they assigned us the responsibility of having some administrative oversight.”
Lou Rinaldi, a citizen cannabis activist and system engineer at Yale University in New Haven, said the six-month gap between the law’s passing and the job posting was too delayed.
“I would have liked to have seen it sooner rather than later and I would also like to see a little bit more publicity for the job posting,” Rinaldi said.
Rinaldi, who is publicly skeptical of the state’s cannabis administration and quality testing on his LinkedIn profile, said he hopes the appointed ombudsperson brings passion to the role and holds the industry accountable.
But Rinaldi’s worried the appointment could bring “controlled opposition,” or “sound and fury, signifying nothing,” he said, quoting Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
Ben Zachs, chief operating officer of cannabis company Fine Fettle, said the position is a step in the right direction as he’s seen the state’s cannabis market increase offerings to recreational customers over the past year
“Medical market and patient populations have changed since adult use happened,” Zachs said.
According to retail sales data from the state, medical cannabis sales have been trending down since March — while recreational sales have increased month over month since the market opened this past January until November’s most recently-published data.
Though Rinaldi said the six-month lapse between the public act’s passing and the ombudsperson posting was too long, Zachs disagreed and said “it takes time.”
“You need to create the job description, you need to post it online, you need to get it in the budget, it needs to be added to a team's budget,” the Fine Fettle COO said. “There's hoops that you go through even as a private company, right? If I decide, ‘oh, we need to hire a retail manager,’ we don't post the job the next day.”
