DPH to revise medical marijuana regs
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The Department of Public Health and Cannabis Control Commission is beginning to meet to discuss medical marijuana regulations after retail pot can be sold next summer.
The Department of Public Health is expected to make regulatory changes to the state's medical marijuana program early next month and the agency is already starting to strategize its migration to the Cannabis Control Commission.
The changes to the program will come in the waning days of DPH's oversight of the medical marijuana program and as the CCC prepares to bring the existing medical program under its control by the end of next year. The two agencies met last week to begin plotting the handoff.
"The Department of Public Health and the Cannabis Control Commission had a productive meeting (Friday) on the implementation of legalized recreational marijuana and a smooth transition in the oversight of the medical marijuana program to the CCC," DPH spokeswoman Ann Scales said in an email.
State health officials last year unveiled a proposed overhaul of the medical marijuana regulations, which they said at the time would build on lessons learned in the first three years of the program. Medical marijuana patients knocked the proposal at public hearings in January for not going far enough to make medicinal marijuana more accessible to registered patients. Voters approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes at the ballot in 2012.
DPH's proposed changes include allowing certified nurse practitioners -- who have prescribing authority for other medicines -- to certify a patient for medical marijuana use, and also allowing nursing home, hospice and other medical facility employees to administer marijuana to patients.
The changes would also give health care providers and dispensaries the flexibility to certify and dispense less than the current 10-ounces-for-60-days supply if they feel the patient does not need the full 10 ounces for 60 days.
Medical dispensaries would also, under the proposed revisions, be allowed to post their prices online. Cultivators could grow cannabis from clones instead of seeds -- which growers say boosts yields and leads to lower prices and greater consistency.
Because the CCC will ultimately be the group responsible for overseeing the medical program, DPH has held off on finalizing the proposed regulations until the CCC was able to be involved in the process. The medical program is required to be transferred to the CCC's control by the end of 2018.
"As DPH moves forward with proposed regulatory changes to the medical marijuana program, the two agencies will continue to work closely to share technical and operational expertise and data to promote safe patient access, preserve public safety, and increase transparency," Scales said in a statement.
DPH officials originally planned to present the proposed revisions and feedback from the public hearings to the Public Health Council in the spring. That didn't happen and the regulations still have not been presented to the council for approval. Only after approval from the Public Health Council can DPH place the regulations on file with the Secretary of State's office.
Now DPH is expected to present the revised regulations to the Public Health Council for final approval at the council's Nov. 8 meeting.
There were 15 medical marijuana dispensaries open in Massachusetts and 41,077 active patients as of Sept. 30, according to DPH. Six additional dispensaries are cultivating product but are not yet open and another 102 have fulfilled local and state requirements but have not yet received final licensure.
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