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Massachusetts lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills that would provide employment protections for marijuana consumers and expand the state\u2019s medical cannabis program, in part by adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and opioid use disorder to the list of qualifying conditions.<\/p>\n
The legislature\u2019s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy reported the two measures out favorably on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Rep. Michael Soter (R) sponsored the medical marijuana expansion legislation, which would amend the existing state statute to include PTSD and opioid use disorder as conditions that could qualify patients for cannabis if recommended by a doctor.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the bill<\/a> would revise the statute to make it so military veterans who receive health care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) could qualify for medical cannabis if they provide documentation \u201cindicating a diagnosis of a debilitating medical condition.\u201d<\/p>\n The other bill that moved through the joint committee, sponsored by Rep. Michael Kushmerek (D), would bar employers from refusing to hire, terminate or under-compensate a worker based on the presence of THC metabolites in a drug test, \u201cunless reasonable suspicion exists that the employee was impaired by marijuana at the employee\u2019s place of employment or during the hours of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, the legislation would make it so it \u201cshall be a defense to such employment action if the employee, due to the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol or marijuana metabolite in the blood, urine or other body sample provided by the individual, is unable to maintain licenses, credentials, or other qualifications that are reasonably necessary for the performance of the employee\u2019s position, regardless of whether such licensing, credentialing, or other qualifications prohibit the employee from using marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis section shall not apply to safety sensitive positions or if compliance would cause the employer to commit a violation of a federal law, regulation, contract, or funding agreement,\u201d the bill<\/a> text states.<\/p>\n As the measures are advancing, the attorney general of Massachusetts recently published dozens of proposed initiatives for the 2026 ballot\u2014including a pair that would roll back adult-use marijuana legalization in the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two marijuana measures\u2014which would eliminate the commercial adult-use market while maintaining patient access under the medical cannabis program and continuing to allow lawful possession of up to an ounce of recreational marijuana\u2014are being spearheaded by Caroline Cunningham, who previously fought against a psychedelics legalization ballot initiative that voters ultimately rejected last year.<\/p>\n Whether the cannabis measures will make the ballot is yet to be seen. Voters approved legalization at the ballot in 2016, with sales launching two years later. And the past decade has seen the market evolve and expand. As of last month, Massachusetts officials reported more than $8 billion in adult-use marijuana sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Regulators are also working to finalize rules to\u00a0allow for a new cannabis consumption lounge license type<\/a>, which they hope to complete by October.<\/p>\n Separately, in May, the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) launched an online platform aimed at helping people find jobs, workplace training and networking opportunities<\/a>\u00a0in the state\u2019s legal cannabis industry.<\/p>\n State lawmakers have also been considering\u00a0setting tighter restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived products<\/a>\u00a0and a plan to\u00a0allow individual entities to control a larger number of cannabis establishments<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also in Massachusetts,\u00a0legislators who were working on a state budget butted heads with CCC officials<\/a>, who\u2019ve said they can\u2019t make critical technology improvements without more money from the legislature.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bills To Protect Marijuana Users From Employment Discrimination And Expand\u00a0Medical Cannabis Program<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Massachusetts lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills that would provide employment protections for marijuana consumers and expand the state\u2019s medical cannabis program, in part by adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and opioid use disorder to the list of qualifying conditions. The legislature\u2019s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy reported theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":83082,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83083,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83081\/revisions\/83083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bills To Protect Marijuana Users From Employment Discrimination And Expand\u00a0Medical Cannabis Program<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"