Mass. medical cannabis patients ask lawmakers to consider "universal" access
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As Massachusetts lawmakers negotiate an overhaul of the cannabis industry, some medical patients are urging an option no state has undertaken — letting any dispensary sell medical cannabis.
Why it matters: Massachusetts is home to 79,000 medical cannabis patients, and some of the most vocal ones say their access to tax-free cannabis is diminishing as more medical facilities close.
Catch up quick: A panel of lawmakers is crafting a cannabis reform bill that tackles everything from lab testing standards to the makeup of the state's Cannabis Control Commission.
- Both proposals would nix so-called vertical integration requirements that only license medical dispensaries if they also grow and produce cannabis. (Recreational cannabis dispensaries don't have that requirement.)
- The Senate bill also allows medical patients from other states to buy cannabis tax-free. The House version doesn't.
- The House proposal would impose a three-year exclusivity period during which only "social equity" applicants can get licenses to run medical dispensaries.
State of play: The Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance said in a letter to lawmakers that the proposal may have unintended consequences for patients who already struggle to access medical cannabis.
- Patients support nixing the vertical integration requirement but warn the medical supply chain could shrink.
- The supply chain concerns, the exclusivity period proposed by the House and proposals to still cap a company at three medical licenses statewide will continue to limit medical cannabis options.
Zoom in: The alliance argues all of those concerns could be solved by simply letting patients get medical cannabis at any licensed dispensary, as long as they can get up to a 60-day supply.
What they're saying: "If I go to a pharmacy, I get my prescription, it's not taxed ... that should be the same for medical patients," says Ellen Moore, a Reading resident who has been a patient for more than a decade.
- Moore, a member of the alliance, says the state's rules mean she has to travel several towns over to get cannabis.
The heads of the panel, Sen. Adam Gomez and Rep. Daniel Donahue, did not respond to requests for comment.
Reality check: Persuading lawmakers to make major changes to a heavily regulated industry like legal cannabis — changes that neither bill included — is a long shot.
- The proposal, however popular, would make Massachusetts the first to allow a "universal medical access" model.
- Connecticut, which has some 31,000 patients, comes close. The state recently started letting recreational dispensaries obtain "hybrid" licenses and sell cannabis tax-free to patients.
What we're watching: Lawmakers have several months before the legislative session ends to send the proposal to Gov. Maura Healey's desk.