Medical Cannabis Patient Fees Removed in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has eliminated the $50 annual fee for medical cannabis patients, MassLive reports. The new rules were approved unanimously by the body and will take effect as soon as they are promulgated by the Secretary of State.

Nichole Snow, executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, called the fee an “obstruction to health care,” adding that “no other medicine requires a $50 fee.”

In order to make up the budget shortfall from eliminating the fee, the cost of licensing fees will increase for large cultivators and retailers, according to a report from Grizzle.

The change was included in a round of reforms that will eventually allow for home delivery and social-use establishments. Those licenses will only be available to social equity and economic empowerment applicants for the first two years. Cannabis board chairman Steven Hoffman said the changes provide a “good balance” in the state’s cannabis regime.

“The new regulations bring expansions and improvements to the adult and medical use of marijuana programs that will bolster public health and safety, promote access to and participation in the industry, and support small businesses in our state.” – Hoffman, in a statement, via Grizzle 

The cannabis industry reforms approved by the CCC do not include the recent four-month banning of vape devices; that action was initiated by Gov. Charlie Baker.