Medical Marijuana Use Application Process Streamlined

While Cannabis Control Commission (Commission) this week notified its licensees to cease and desist all adult-use marijuana operations in the Commonwealth pursuant to a stay-at-home advisory and emergency order issued by the Administration on Monday, medical marijuana use is still legal and the agency has implemented significant policy and service upgrades to ensure the more than 67,000 registered qualifying patients in the Commonwealth have access to medical grade marijuana.

The Commission provides guidance and step-by-step instructions for prospective patients to register for the medical use of marijuana program. As the result of the Governor’s Order Expanding Access to Telehealth Services and to Protect Health Care Providers, the Commission also has enabled Certifying Health Care Providers to apply for a waiver that allows for the certification of new patients using telehealth. Telehealth renewals are already authorized under the Commission’s medical use of marijuana regulations.

Through the use of new technology and the medical use of marijuana program’s migration to the agency’s Massachusetts Cannabis Industry Portal (MassCIP), the Commission has streamlined patient registration and eliminated a historic backlog of several thousand registrants. Now, through direct integration between the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and MassCIP, patients receive automatic verification of identification data when they register or renew their program certification using their Massachusetts driver’s license. Last summer, the Commission also launched Initial Access Certification of patients and caregivers which permits immediate entry into an MTC using temporary registration and prior to the issuance of an annual registration card.

More updates here.