Important cannabis hearing information.

This Tuesday (12/17/19), 11:00AM at the Massachuetts State House (Hearing Room A2) there will be an important hearing on a few different bills related to cannabis in the Commonwealth. 

The bill which is the most harmful, that should be opposed, is H.4168;

This bill, submitted by arch-prohibitionist Hannah Kane (and sponsored by corporate cannabis firms through their lobbying group, the Commonwealth Dispensary Association), would seek to bring back criminal enforcement related to cannabis simply to protect profits for existing dispensaries. 

Returning to the drug war, simply to protect corporate profits, is an abhorrent abuse of the lawmaking process and I hope all testifying on Tuesday will testify in opposition to this horrific proposal. More information about the bill can be found here- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H4168

Another harmful bill I am urging folks to oppose is H. 4147

This bill would allow towns to ban medical cannabis facilities with only a vote of local town officials. Towns may not currently ban medical cannabis facilities.

More information about that bill is here- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H4147  

Another bill which should be opposed is H. 3646,

This bill would allow landlords to discriminate against medical cannabis patients by banning them from growing their personal medical cannabis. This bill is cruel and would deprive the most vulnerable patients (those who need to save money by growing their own medicine) of their only source of affordable medication.

More information about this terrible bill can be found here- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3646

Likewise, another bill which should be opposed is H. 3647;

This bill would allow landlords to ban vulnerable medical cannabis patients from consuming their medication inside. Again, a gratuitously cruel policy that would only expose the most vulnerable medical cannabis patients to undue hardship (in particular if they can only consume inside due to mobility issues, etc). 

More information about this bad bill can be found here- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3647

A bill that I am supporting, if amended is H. 3539/ S.1128 .

This bill, from Chairman Rogers in the House and Senator Cyr in the Senate, would allow medical cannabis licenses to be de-verticliazed. The bill, as written, would allow three separate license types, “including but not limited to: medical marijuana product manufacturer, medical marijuana cultivator, and medical marijuana treatment centers”.

I believe this law would benefit by being amended to include “stand alone delivery retailers with wholesale purchase capabilities” as one of the mandated license types (rather than leaving the addition of that license type to the discretion of the CCC).

That bill can be found here- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3539 

The bills I am supporting are thus;

H.3538/ S. 1119 “An Act relative to employment protections for medical cannabis patients and caregivers”- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3538

H..3545; An Act establishing a cannabis and hemp cultivation research center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst”- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3545

H. 3705; “An Act relative to research data collection”- https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3705

If there are any bills I missed please feel free to let me know and I will review them.

More information about the hearing can be found at the link here- https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/3382