By Repeat Recognition for a Former Regulator
Shawn Collins, founder and principal of The Homegrown Consulting Group, has been named to the Global Top 200 Cannabis Consultants directory for the second consecutive year. Collins was previously included in the directory’s inaugural 2025-26 edition.
The directory was created to identify specialized professionals working across cannabis, hemp, and CBD markets internationally. Its 2026-27 edition is the publication’s second. According to the publisher, inclusion considers a consultant’s industry experience, client history, thought leadership, and participation in cannabis-related organizations and events.
Collins’ profile specifically identifies him as a Top 200 Cannabis Consultant for 2026-27. The recognition reflects his work advising cannabis and hemp operators, investors, trade associations, and policymakers on regulatory strategy, compliance, licensing, and public policy.
The repeat recognition reflects a practice built around interpreting regulation before it becomes an operational problem. Collins serves clients from his base in Webster, Massachusetts.
For Collins, the honor is tied directly to client outcomes rather than personal achievement.
From State Regulator to Consultant
Collins brings a firsthand perspective to regulatory strategy. He served as the former inaugural Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, where he helped build the state’s regulatory framework and later led the launch and early growth of its adult-use market.
He also led the agency through the 2018 transfer of the state’s medical marijuana program from the Department of Public Health. The December 2018 move brought patient registration, certifying providers, and medical treatment center licensing under the Commission alongside the adult-use market, consolidating medical and adult-use regulation under a single agency.
Collins also helped establish the Cannabis Regulators Association, known as CANNRA, and served on its initial Executive Committee. Earlier in his career, he was a former Assistant Treasurer and Policy Director in the Massachusetts State Treasury.
Today, Collins advises operators, investors, trade associations, and policymakers on licensing, compliance, public comments, hemp policy, state rulemaking, local oversight, and regulatory agency design.
His work increasingly focuses on where regulated markets overlap, particularly cannabis, hemp-derived beverages, and alcohol policy.
Client Results Drive the Honor
Collins described his firm’s approach in practical terms. “Our clients are running businesses in regulated industries where the rules keep moving, and they do not have time to sit through a slide deck about it,” said Collins.
“They hand us the regulatory problem, we go work it, and we come back with what they should do,” Collins added. “Landing on a list like this means our clients have been successful, which is the whole point.”
Collins continues to operate The Homegrown Consulting Group from Webster, Massachusetts.
His current status as a repeat honoree reflects ongoing demand for regulatory guidance across cannabis, hemp, and other highly regulated markets.
