Former Head Of Sherrif's Substance Misuse Program Named To Cannabis Commission

Having run the Worcester County Sheriff Department's substance misuse prevention and education program for students, Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday tapped Kimberly Roy to serve on the Cannabis Control Commission.

Roy oversees all public and media relations for Sheriff Lew Evangelidis, a former Republican state representative. She will fill the vacancy created when former senator and commissioner Jennifer Flanagan left the CCC on April 30. The governor's appointee is required to have a a background in public health, mental health, substance use, or toxicology.

The Face2Face program that Roy has overseen has brought substance misuse prevention and education programming to more than 375,000 students in hundreds of local schools, Baker's office said. Roy previously worked as a hospital representative for Johnson & Johnson, a job in which she dealt with medical supply sales.

"Kim Roy's work in prevention and education programming to help students understand the impacts of drug and alcohol addiction will serve her well as a member of the Cannabis Control Commission," Baker said. "With a decade of service to the people of central Massachusetts in a leadership role at the Worcester County Sheriff's Department, Kim will bring a commitment to public service that will benefit the work of the Commission."

In 2010, Roy mounted a write-in campaign to secure the Republican nomination for a state Senate seat and then took about 46 percent of the vote in a general election contest against then-Sen. Richard Moore. She has also served as Republican state committee woman for the Worcester and Norfolk district.

Roy's addition brings the CCC back to full strength and caps off a period of turnover for the relatively young agency.

Chairman Steven Hoffman is the only originally appointed member of the CCC to remain on the commission. Aside from Hoffman and now Roy, the CCC includes commissioners Nurys Camargo, Bruce Stebbins and Ava Callender Concepcion. Hoffman was appointed in September 2017.