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Patients and advocates press for medical program overhaul, urge repeal of vertical integration and lower fees
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Summary
Patients, providers and advocates urged the committee to pass H.163/S.83 to modernize Massachusetts' medical marijuana program: remove vertical integration, cut capital and fee burdens, and allow out-of-state medical reciprocity.
Patient advocates, providers and business representatives urged the Joint Committee to favorably report H.163 and S.83, bills that would modernize the state’s medical cannabis program by removing vertical-integration requirements, reducing licensing fees and allowing out-of-state medical-card reciprocity.
Patients told the committee they rely on medical access for chronic conditions and are losing local dispensaries. "If medical dispensaries keep disappearing, and new ones are barred by entry hurdles, how do we expect this program to survive?" asked Frank Shaw, a medical patient who said 13 medical dispensaries closed since 2024.
Key provisions requested: The bills would allow medical dispensaries to operate without being vertically integrated (that is, without having to own cultivation, processing and retail all together), reduce the $50,000-per-location annual licensing fee cited by witnesses, lower capital requirements and allow non‑resident medical cardholders to buy tax‑exempt medical marijuana while visiting Massachusetts.
Why it matters: Witnesses said the current rules make medical shops cost‑prohibitive to operate, limit patient access and push patients to buy taxed recreational products. Jeremiah McKinnon, president of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, said the medical program is being “quietly suffocated” by outdated policies and that 80,000 registered medical patients deserve easier access.
Proposals and rationale: Advocates argued that lowering fees and eliminating a requirement that medical businesses be vertically integrated would let existing retail operators add medical registers and would increase patient access without undermining adult-use policy. They also asked the committee to strike language requiring the medical program to be “revenue neutral,” which advocates said had been used to justify high fees.
Industry and policy response: Several operators and patient groups supported the bills. Committee members asked for data about where patients are underserved; advocates pointed to Boston neighborhoods and the Berkshires as examples where medical access has declined while recreational outlets remain available.
Next steps: Supporters asked the committee to move H.163 and S.83 as part of any broader package of CCC reforms. The committee did not vote at the hearing and will consider the proposals during its review cycle.
