Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Legislation is Under Consideration

The Massachusetts legislature is once again considering permitting the physician-supervised use of medical marijuana.

House Bill 625 and its companion bill in the Senate (SB 1611) amend state law to “authorize an individual to use marijuana for medical purposes as directed by a physician.” These bills would allow authorized patients to get marijuana from state-licensed non-profit dispensaries. They would also allow patients to possess twenty-four plants and four ounces of usable marijuana for personal use.

The legislation is intended to authorize nineteen dispensaries around the state. Facilities could apply for state-licensure once the legislation passes. More facilities could be authorized if it is determined that the nineteen initial facilities are not adequate to meet the needs of the state’s patients.

Patients would qualify to use marijuana if they have a “debilitating medical condition”. Among other conditions, “debilitating” conditions include cancer, HIV, AIDS, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As long as patients qualify for the use of marijuana under the statutory guidelines, they will not be subject to any criminal prosecution charges or forfeiture of property for the possession or use of marijuana.

The initiative is co-sponsored by Senator Stanley Rosenberg of Amherst and Representative Frank Smizik of Brookline. Representative Smizik issued the following statement in support of his efforts, “I’ve met patients with ALS, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, cancer, and other serious diseases who cannot tolerate the side effects of available medications or find them ineffective. Some of these patients have been able to reduce their intake of toxic or addictive medications and others have been able to stay on life-prolonging treatments like chemotherapy by using medical marijuana. As long as use is approved by a doctor, medical marijuana should be an available treatment option for these individuals, just as it is in Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.”

The bills have earned endorsements from a number of organizations, including: The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Public Health Associations, the Massachusetts Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts Hepatitis Patient Empowerment Project, the Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union, and a number of AIDS support groups and organizations.