Connecticut Taxpayers Fund a National Regulator Network. DCP's Commissioner Sits on Its Board

CT CannaTimes - 12.4.2025

How Connecticut quietly pays into a secretive national association that helps write cannabis policy behind closed doors — while one of our own regulators helps lead it.

THE BIG NUMBERS YOU WERE NEVER TOLD

Before anything else, here is what should shock Connecticut taxpayers:

$11,500

The amount Connecticut paid this year alone in membership dues to join CANNRA — taken directly from the Cannabis Regulatory Fund, paid by cannabis consumers and businesses.

$557,374

What CANNRA spent last year — despite reporting zero employees and zero salaries.

$717,761

CANNRA’s revenue last year — almost all of it from state agencies nationwide, including Connecticut.

$0

What CANNRA reports paying its board members, including Connecticut’s own Lila McKinley — even though tax money pays for the membership, the travel, and the influence of that board.

10+ YEARS

How long McKinley has been regulating cannabis in Connecticut — from medical marijuana’s earliest days, through legal adult-use, and now as Director of the Cannabis Division.

Private 501(c)(4)

The IRS classification of CANNRA — meaning it is a private lobbying-capable organization not subject to FOIA, public meetings, or transparency laws.

These numbers alone show why this story must be told.

WHY THIS IS ALARMING

Connecticut taxpayers — including every cannabis consumer and business — are directly funding a national organization that:

• Writes cannabis policy behind closed doors

• Is legally allowed to lobby Congress

• Does not disclose its contractors or vendors

• Publishes only some of its guidance

• Holds closed-door meetings regulators rely on

• Operates without public oversight

• Has no public accountability mechanisms

• And counts Connecticut’s top cannabis regulator as one of its board members

If this were happening in the alcohol, tobacco, or pharmaceutical sector, it would already be a national scandal.

But because cannabis regulation remains obscure, CANNRA has operated almost invisibly.

Until now.

THE LOOP: HOW CONNECTICUT TAX MONEY FEEDS A PRIVATE POLICY NETWORK

Here’s the cycle in plain English:

1. Cannabis consumers pay taxes at dispensaries.

2. That money flows into the Cannabis Regulatory Fund (CRF).

3. DCP uses CRF money to pay CANNRA $11,500 for membership.

4. CANNRA uses that money to run private, members-only policy groups.

5. Lila McKinley — Connecticut’s top cannabis regulator — sits on CANNRA’s Board of Directors, helping create the doctrine.

6. Connecticut then adopts rules shaped inside CANNRA, but those rules come with no public access to the underlying policy discussions.

This is what regulatory experts call a closed-loop governance system.

The public funds the rulemakers, the rulemakers fund the association, the association creates the rules, and the public is barred from seeing how those rules are made.

WHO IS LILA McKINLEY — AND WHY HER ROLE MATTERS

Lila McKinley is Connecticut’s Director of the Cannabis Division — the highest-ranking cannabis regulator in the state.

But she has been involved in cannabis for more than a decade:

• Joined DCP around 2014

• Worked on Connecticut’s medical marijuana program

• Helped write and enforce adult-use regulations

• Became Supervising Staff Attorney in Drug Control

• Served as Legal Program Director advising on cannabis law

• Helped shape THC beverage rules

• Played a role in the state’s testing and enforcement practices

• Promoted to Director of Cannabis in 2025

But her national role is what few Connecticut residents know:

She is also a CANNRA Board Member.

CANNRA’s leadership listing shows:

• Board Member (2025–2026)

• Co-Chair of Packaging, Labeling & Advertising Committee (since 2021)

• Regular national speaker and regulator liaison

https://www.cann-ra.org/news-events/cannra-elects-2025-2026-executive-board-members

In effect:

She is both the architect of Connecticut’s cannabis rules and a national architect helping shape the rules other states adopt.

This dual influence is not inherently wrongdoing, but it is structurally dangerous — especially when the policy work occurs inside a private organization funded by public money.

CANNRA’S SECRETIVE STRUCTURE: WHY IT RAISES RED FLAGS

1. IRS filings show no employees — but over $557,000 in annual expenses.

CANNRA’s 990s, available via ProPublica, show:

• $557,374 in expenses
• $717,761 in revenue
• $0 in salaries
• $0 in wages
• $0 in executive compensation
• $0 in employees

Source:

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/853620943

Most nonprofits spend their largest share on staff.

CANNRA spends nothing on staff and hides where the money goes in broad categories.

This implies:

• Heavy reliance on consultants, event vendors, private contractors, and travel

• No clear public disclosure of who receives taxpayer-funded dollars

• No transparency on policy-development spending

2. Meetings and “best practices” are not open to the public

CANNRA’s website openly states that its substantive guidance is members-only.

The public sees only the tip of the iceberg — short “fact sheets.”

The detailed standards shaping CT’s testing, packaging, THC beverage rules, hemp intoxicant crackdowns, and labeling restrictions are not publicly released.

3. CANNRA lobbies Congress and federal agencies while claiming to be “non-advocacy”

Examples:

• Written testimony to Congress on hemp intoxicants

• Policy letters urging FDA to regulate delta-8 and hemp cannabinoids

• Closed-door regulator summits with federal officials

Source example: https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CANNRA-Written-Testimony_07-2023_Final59.pdf

4. CT aligns almost perfectly with CANNRA’s regulatory philosophy

CANNRA promotes:

• Strict licensing
• Strong lab-testing enforcement
• Heavy packaging restrictions
• Crackdowns on hemp intoxicants
• Advertising restrictions
• Tight regulator control

Connecticut’s policies mirror these positions point-for-point.

This raises the question:

Are Connecticut’s policies being shaped by the legislature — or by a private association funded by taxpayer dollars?

THE PROBLEM AT ITS CORE

None of this is illegal.

But legality is not the measure of good governance.

The real issue is that Connecticut residents:

• Are governed by policies shaped in private meetings

• Pay for the organization producing those policies

• Cannot attend the meetings

• Cannot see the documents

• Cannot FOIA CANNRA

• Cannot see how the half-million-dollar annual budget is spent

• Cannot know which contractors or consultants are influencing the rules

• Cannot see what their top regulator argues for behind closed doors

Meanwhile, Connecticut’s cannabis tax dollars continue to flow into CANNRA’s budget.

And McKinley continues to help shape national policy from inside that private structure — then bring that doctrine home to regulate residents and businesses.

CONCLUSION: WHY THIS DEMANDS SCRUTINY

What we have uncovered is not corruption. It is a structural vulnerability in the way Connecticut regulates cannabis.

It reveals:

• A private association funded by public money

• A closed-door policy engine with no sunlight

• A state regulator who simultaneously writes national doctrine and enforces it locally

• A half-million-dollar annual operation with no employees and no transparency

• A taxpayer-funded membership system that gives regulators power without accountability

This dual role — public regulator + private policy author — deserves public conversation, media examination, and legislative oversight.

Because cannabis regulation should not be shaped in secret rooms funded quietly by the people the rules restrict.

And yet, in Connecticut today, that is exactly what is happening.