Massachusetts cannabis agency chief set to resign by year end

Shawn Collins, the inaugural executive director of the Cannabis Control Commission, will resign effective Dec. 4, he announced Thursday.

Collins has held the post for six years. He has been on paternal leave since July. In October, commissioners named the commission's head of human resources, Debra Hilton-Creek, acting executive director in Collins' absence.

In a brief statement Thursday, Collins said, "working under a microscope and at a breakneck pace" prompted him to consider a change.

"I do not know what the future has in store for me, but I know I am better for having had the opportunity to serve," he added.

News of Collins' resignation comes two months after the suspension of the commission's charwoman, Shannon O'Brien. O'Brien later sued State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg and claimed she'd “willfully side-stepped” the law in suspending O'Brien.

It is unclear who will take Collins' position in the new year. A spokeperson for the state treasurer declined to comment.