medical

Now that permanent regulations governing the distribution and use of medical marijuana have been adopted by the Massachusetts Department of Health (DOH), all physicians and patients must carefully comply with these guidelines. After all, it’s still a violation of federal law to buy, use or sell marijuana. As part our our continuing series examining the new medical marijuana law as part of changes to Massachusetts drug laws, let’s examine how it affects medical practitioners.

When Massachusetts voters chose to legalize medical marijuana in November 2012, few of them realized how many challenging issues still had to be resolved, including obtaining legal access to the medicine. Under the ballot initiative, and to comply with Massachusetts drug laws, strict procedures to operate nonprofit dispensaries are still being drafted by the state.

Now that the state of Massachusetts has finalized its regulations governing the sale of medical marijuana, it’s important to understand the definitions  If you are interested in the use of medical pot, or the legal infrastructure around it’s availability, it requires a bit of reading. The good news is that the state seems to have done a reasonably thorough job of mapping out the path to medical marijuana in Massachusetts.

Many Massachusetts cities are towns are hoping to slow down or stop the medical marijuana ballot initiative passed by Massachusetts voters in November of 2012. The state’s voters legalized, by a wide margin, the dispensing of medical marijuana to ease the pain of those with serious medical conditions like ALS, cancer, and multiple sclerosis. A physician can prescribe marijuana for medical use, and a patient receives a registration card allowing them a 60 day supply. From the start, there is no ‘carte blanche,’ no unlimited access.