Maine Advocacy Group calls for stricter medical regulations

A new group known as Protect Maine’s Cannabis Consumers said last week that “they will work to raise public awareness of the lack of regulation in Maine’s medical marijuana industry and urge lawmakers to both product test and track.” -and-trace requirements, closing what it calls a ‘dangerous gap,'” according to the Portland Press Herald.

The group draws attention to a peculiar discrepancy between the state’s two cannabis programs. As the Press Herald noted, while the adult recreational program introduced in 2020 needs tracking and testing, the medical cannabis program, which Maine voters legalized back in 1999, does not.

The president of the advocacy group, Kevin Kelley, said at a news conference Friday that the conflicting requirements between the two cannabis programs “defy common sense.”

These concerns echo what one of the state’s top cannabis officials said last year.

Erik Gundersen, director of the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy, told Maine lawmakers in November that there was ongoing illegal activity under the medical cannabis program.

As the Bangor Daily News reported at the time, Gundersen said his office had “less ability to regulate the medical market than the recreational market, which only started retailing last year,” and that it “would be helpful if there were tools.” to ensure cannabis grown under the medical program stays in.”

The newspaper reported that Gundersen believes “more illegal activity is associated with the state’s medical marijuana industry and that his office has few tools to prevent medical cannabis from making its way onto the black market.” With only 12 field researchers, Gundersen said his available resources were not “adequate to conduct the level of oversight required when investigators only come to registrants every four to five years.”

In August, Gundersen announced the formation of the Marijuana Working Group tasked with making recommendations to strengthen the state’s longstanding medical cannabis program.

Gundersen’s office said the working group “would consist of at least 16 outside members representing Maine’s medical marijuana industry, cannabis patients, the public health system, and cities and communities” who would “advise on regulatory issues, best practices in patient access, and education on ongoing improvements.” of the medical cannabis program in Maine.”

The Office of Marijuana Policy said it is seeking “at least five registered caregivers, two registered dispensary representatives, one representative from a marijuana testing facility, one representative from a product manufacturing facility, three qualified patients who are not also registered caregivers, two people who serve communities in Maine, and two relevant health professionals” to serve on the working group.

“We look forward to the opportunity presented by the convening of a group of well-qualified individuals to pursue a common goal of both maintaining patient access and supporting the regulated market,” Gundersen said in a press release at the time. “Our vision as cannabis regulators has always been to build a trusted partnership with our stakeholders by creating rules and policies that give interested consumers access to a regulated industry.”

But calls for stricter rules and requirements have met with resistance from some corners of Maine’s medicinal cannabis industry.

The Portland Press Herald noted that the industry “has resisted testing and traceability requirements for over a year and raised concerns about costs to both vendors and their customers,” specifically a proposed track-and-trace System for the cannabis business Owners have successfully campaigned against it in the legislature.