Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, on Wednesday sent lawmakers a supplemental budget bill that would allow veterans to obtain a state medical cannabis card using official Veterans Administration documentation showing a diagnosis of a debilitating medical condition, without a written or electronic certification from a healthcare professional. The bill also adds post-traumatic stress disorder and a medical condition producing chronic pain to the state's definition of a debilitating medical condition.
Massachusetts governor files bill to let veterans use VA diagnosis for medical cannabis card
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, on Wednesday sent lawmakers a supplemental budget bill that would allow veterans to obtain a state medical cannabis card using official Veterans Administration documentation showing a diagnosis of a debilitating medical condition, without a written or electronic certification from a healthcare professional. The bill also adds post-traumatic stress disorder and a medical condition producing chronic pain to the state's definition of a debilitating medical condition.
Under current federal policy, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits its providers from filling out medical marijuana recommendation forms, the source says. As a result, many veteran patients must seek outside, often expensive physician consultations or go without legal access to medical cannabis. The bill's provision would let VA doctors diagnose a qualifying condition without specifically recommending cannabis.
Adults over 21, including veterans, can already buy recreational marijuana in Massachusetts. Medical cannabis purchases are exempt from sales, excise and municipal taxes that apply in the adult-use market, and medical patients have higher purchase limits and access to higher potency products than recreational consumers, according to the source.
The governor's measure would also help ensure veterans' continued access to cannabis if voters approve an initiative on the November ballot to roll back recreational marijuana legalization. That measure would repeal laws allowing regulated commercial sales of recreational cannabis and home cultivation while maintaining legal possession and continuing the medical marijuana system.
A poll released last month found Massachusetts voters oppose the marijuana legalization repeal measure 55 percent to 33 percent, the source says. The Service Employees International Union Massachusetts State Council is urging voters to reject the rollback initiative.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission announced this month that the state has surpassed $10 billion in adult-use cannabis purchases since the market launched in 2018. CCC Chair Chris Harding told Marijuana Moment he cannot comment directly on the initiative and that the commission does not take positions on pending ballot questions or legislation, but said that, in general, "repeal of the adult-use industry could eliminate thousands of jobs, hundreds of businesses and billions in tax revenue."
In April, Healey signed legislation to double the legal marijuana possession limit for adults and revise the regulatory framework for the state's adult-use cannabis market. In 2024, the governor approved a military veterans-focused bill that includes provisions to create a psychedelics working group to study and make recommendations about the potential therapeutic benefits of substances like psilocybin and MDMA.
- The source does not state the bill number or the full text of the supplemental budget legislation.
- The source does not state whether the bill has been assigned to a committee or scheduled for a vote.
- The source does not state the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' response to the proposal.
- The source does not name the sponsors or proponents of the November ballot initiative to roll back recreational marijuana legalization.
- The source does not provide the methodology, sample size, or margin of error for the poll on the repeal measure.
- The source does not state the number of jobs or businesses in Massachusetts' adult-use cannabis industry or the amount of tax revenue it has generated.
Read the original at Marijuana Moment