Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Department of Public Health on March 29 released draft regulations to implement the state law passed by voters last November that legalizes the medical use of marijuana for patients with a recommendation from their doctor.
Under the draft regulations, a medical marijuana treatment center and affiliated registered persons must comply with all municipal rules, regulations, ordinances and bylaws.
While the draft regulations issued by the DPH would not require any municipal oversight or involvement with medical marijuana treatment centers, hardship cultivation registrations or other aspects of the new law, the regulations state that “nothing … shall be construed so as to prohibit appropriate, lawful, local oversight and regulation, including fee requirements, that does not conflict or interfere with the operation” of the state regulations.
Under the draft regulations, a prospective treatment center would be required to participate in a two-part application process. In the first phase, an applicant would be required to submit information to the DPH that establishes its nonprofit status, proposed site, financial capacity and any prior legal involvements.
Upon notification from the DPH that an applicant may proceed to the second phase, the applicant would then be required to submit a detailed proposal for its medical marijuana treatment center.
This second application would be evaluated on multiple criteria, including:
• Evidence of site control of the proposed location or the capacity to obtain site control if approval of the application is granted
• Evidence of compliance with local codes, ordinances and bylaws for the physical address of the medical marijuana treatment center and for any separate cultivation site
• Any demonstration of support or non-opposition furnished by the local municipality
For purposes of ranking applications, the DPH rules would take into account local support for the proposed treatment center as well as the geographic distribution of medical marijuana treatment centers, in order to avoid the clustering of them in any one area.
The draft regulations would allow a medical marijuana treatment center to offer a secure delivery service to homebound patients, reducing the need for the DPH to issue hardship registration cards for home cultivation to patients without the ability to access a treatment center.
On March 13, Attorney General Martha Coakley ruled that municipalities may not implement a ban on the establishment of a medical marijuana treatment center within a community, but may regulate the siting of a treatment center through zoning ordinances. Coakley’s office ruled that municipalities may enact a temporary moratorium on the establishment of a medical marijuana treatment center if the purpose is to study the new, complex issues that arise with the implementation the medical marijuana law.
On Feb. 26, the MMA submitted detailed comments to the DPH, calling on the agency to draft regulations that embrace the authority of cities and towns to safeguard local, financial, public health and safety concerns regarding the location of medical marijuana treatment and cultivation facilities.
The release of the draft regulations opened a public comment period that will close on April 20.
On April 19, the DPH will hold public hearings on the draft regulations in the communities of Plymouth, Boston and Northampton.
The medical marijuana law called for the DPH to promulgate final regulations by May 1, though the department expects that the regulations will not be in effect until late in the month. Until final regulations are in place, medical marijuana dispensaries cannot open, and the DPH cannot issue any patient registration cards.
The MMA is reviewing the draft regulations and will be submitting further comments before April 20.
The draft regulations may be accessed through the DPH website (www.mass.gov/medicalmarijuana).