Massachusetts MMJ registrations are valid for one year. Patients will need to renew their licenses every year to stay enrolled in the state program. While your patient status needs to be renewed every year, MA patients are also required to get new ID cards every three years.
We recommend that you don't wait until the last minute. It's best to re-enroll in the program at least sixty days before your ID expires to prevent any potential gaps in your patient status.
According to Massachusetts's medical marijuana legislation (called Act For The Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana), the debilitating medical conditions that can qualify residents for an MMJ card are the following:
The MA legislation defines a "debilitating" medical condition as any condition that causes "weakness, cachexia, wasting syndrome, intractable pain, or nausea, or impairs strength or ability, and progresses to such an extent that one or more of a patient’s major life activities is substantially limited.”
You may not have one of the medical conditions explicitly listed, but this does not mean you cannot still receive an MMJ ID card in Massachusetts. So long as your medical condition falls under this definition for “debilitating”, you can receive a recommendation from your evaluating physician.
There are several benefits that Massachusetts residents can take advantage of when they get their medical marijuana cards. First and foremost, MMJ patients are exempt from the Massachusetts sales tax of 20%. Not only that, but MA MMJ patients also have access to unrestricted dispensary menus. Recreational marijuana users are subject to daily limits on the amounts of cannabis they can purchase. MMJ patients, on the other hand, do not have any limits. Best of all, the state mandates that dispensaries always have a reserve stock, 35% of their inventory, for MMJ cardholders in particular. As such, MMJ patients in Massachusetts can reliably purchase cannabis in the state.
The purchasing limit for Massachusetts MMJ patients is 10 ounces every 60 days. This is a "rolling-day" schedule. This means that if a patient was to buy all 10 ounces in one trip, they would need to wait another two months before purchasing any more marijuana.
So long as Massachusetts patients keep their total purchases under ten ounces in this period, they can frequent dispensaries or make purchases as often as they please. Keep in mind that his purchasing limit applies to all medical marijuana products, including edibles and concentrates. And it’s important to note that not every gram of marijuana product is treated equally. One gram of concentrates, for example, is viewed as the equivalent of 5.3 grams of cannabis flower.
Possession limits in Massachusetts only differ for public possession. MMJ patients may purchase up to 10 ounces at a time, so they can possess up to 10 ounces in public where an adult user can only possess one ounce. (The amount of cannabis concentrate on their person must not be over five grams at a given time.)
At home, registered qualifying patients in Massachusetts may possess up to a 60 day supply of cannabis, which the Commission determined to be 10 ounces. This happens to also be the same amount of cannabis that an adult-use cannabis consumer can possess at home.
In both cases, patients and adult users can possess the cannabis they cultivate at home in addition to what they purchase.
The distinction between how much cannabis can be grown by adult-use consumers vs. recreational consumers is also rather muddled. The regulations state that registered medical cannabis patients may grow enough marijuana to yield their 60-day supply, or 10 ounces; but adult-users can grow up to 6 plants, or up to 12 plants if two adult-users live in the house.
Since Massachusetts residents are also allowed to possess "up to 10 ounces of marijuana and any marijuana produced by marijuana plants cultivated on the premises," the actual possession limit for what you can possess at home is basically the same for patients and adult-users, or 10 ounces of purchased cannabis plus whatever they legally grew themselves.
Yes, municipalities can ban cannabis facilities within their jurisdiction. However, if your town/city voted yes on Question #4 (Legalization, Regulation, and Taxation of Marijuana), the municipality can only issue a ban via a ballot referendum measure. This referendum must be open to all voters in that city or town.
Massachusetts mandates that cannabis deliveries must take place between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM. Outside of this window, cannabis deliveries are not allowed unless the local municipality explicitly says otherwise via local laws.
In this regard, marijuana is treated like alcohol. It is not legal to have an open container of marijuana in the car while the vehicle is operating. An “open container” is considered any package whose seal is broken or a container whose contents have been partly emptied. Open containers cannot be present within the passenger area, but can be kept in trunks or locked glove boxes.
It is also not legal to operate any vehicle while under the influence of marijuana, whether it be recreational or medicinal. If you are caught doing so, you will be charged with an OUI and can lose your driver's license.
No. Under no circumstances is the public use of marijuana allowed in Massachusetts. This even applies to MMJ patients in the state. Not only that, but you are also not allowed to use marijuana or marijuana products anywhere tobacco use is also prohibited. If you do so, you can be subject to a civil penalty of up to $100.
The state is working on passing legislation that would allow cannabis consumption lounges, but no bill has been passed as of this writing.
Yes, it does. Medical marijuana patients are entirely exempt from up to 20% sales taxes associated with recreational marijuana sales.
Some qualifying Massachusetts patients are eligible for something called the Cultivation Registration. Some patients may suffer from financial hardship or physical inability preventing them from accessing medical dispensaries, known officially as Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MTC). Those patients can apply for this registration to cultivate additional medicinal cannabis plants.
Massachusetts residents are allowed up to six cannabis plants in their homes. However, you must be 21 years or older to do so. If there are multiple adults at the residence, the maximum number of plants on the property is twelve.
MA caregivers must first be formally designated by a registered MMJ patient. Patients have the opportunity to list caregivers during their application process. Once they have done so, the patient can provide you, the potential MMJ caregiver, with their PIN. Then, with your government-issued ID and the patient’s PIN in hand, you can begin the application process online.
You can apply here at the Use of Marijuana Program Online System.
Those residents 21 years or older are potentially eligible to become MMJ caregivers in Massachusetts. However, every caregiver must be explicitly designated by the patient in question.
Recreational marijuana first became available in November 2018, upon the opening of the first recreational dispensaries.
MA patients can always contact the Cannabis Control Commission via email at Commission@CCCMass.com. Commission meetings are also always available to members of the public. Patients, if they choose to, can voice questions or concerns to the Commission during public comment portions of these meetings. However, you should not consult the Commission for individual legal advice.
Absolutely. You have the right to see whatever practitioner you choose to renew your medical marijuana certification, so long as they're licensed in the state and qualified to certify patients for cannabis use. All NuggMD practitioners are fully licensed in the state for which they provide evaluations and have obtained all state required education and certifications to recommend cannabis.