Massachusetts lawmakers recently advanced a set of bills which would protect marijuana users from discrimination in employment and extend the medical cannabis program.
Tuesday, the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy in the Legislature voted to approve both of these measures.
Rep. Michael Soter, (R), sponsored medical marijuana expansion legislation. This would include PTSD or opioid addiction disorder in the list of conditions for which cannabis could be prescribed by a physician.
A bill is also being introduced to revise existing law so that veterans of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can qualify for the use of medical cannabis, if the documentation they submit “indicates a diagnosis of debilitating health conditions.”
Michael Kushmerek’s (D) bill, which was also passed by the joint committee of the House and Senate, would prohibit employers from refusing an employee employment, terminating them or underpaying their wages if they detect THC in the drug test. This is “unless there are reasonable suspicions that marijuana impairment occurred at the place of work or within the working hours.”
The legislation also states that it is “a defense” to any employment actions if an employee cannot maintain credentials or licenses necessary to perform the job due to the presence or metabolite of marijuana in their blood or urine.
This section will not be applicable to positions that are safety-sensitive or to those where compliance could cause an employer to violate a federal law or regulation or a contract or funding agreement.
As the measures are advancing, the attorney general of Massachusetts recently published dozens of proposed initiatives for the 2026 ballot—including a pair that would roll back adult-use marijuana legalization in the state.
The two marijuana measures—which 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—are being spearheaded by Caroline Cunningham, who previously fought against a psychedelics legalization ballot initiative that voters ultimately rejected last year.
We will have to wait and see if the cannabis measures are included on the ballot. In 2016, voters approved the legalization of cannabis at the ballot box. Sales began two years later. In the last decade the cannabis market has evolved and expanded. Massachusetts reported that more than 8 billion dollars in sales of adult-use cannabis were made last month.
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Regulators are also working to finalize rules to allow for a new cannabis consumption lounge license type, which they hope to complete by October.
Separately, in May, the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) launched an online platform aimed at helping people find jobs, workplace training and networking opportunities in the state’s legal cannabis industry.
State lawmakers have also been considering setting tighter restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived products and a plan to allow individual entities to control a larger number of cannabis establishments.
Also in Massachusetts, legislators who were working on a state budget butted heads with CCC officials, who’ve said they can’t make critical technology improvements without more money from the legislature.
Mike Latimer is the photographer.
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