A group of medical marijuana providers, customers and other interested parties made recommendations to a legislative committee Monday for new rules that it says would protect consumers without causing undue harm to Maine’s medical cannabis industry.

A bill approved by the Maine Legislature in 2021 overhauled the medical marijuana rulemaking process and halted a set of controversial proposed regulations by the state Office of Marijuana Policy, instead requiring input from an industry-led rulemaking committee before making major changes to the medical marijuana program.

The medical marijuana workgroup, which convened in the fall, was headed by the policy office and included 17 members from across the industry: six registered small providers, known in the industry as caregivers; two registered dispensary representatives; a cannabis testing facility representative; a product manufacturer; three qualifying medical cannabis patients who are not also caregivers; two municipal officials and two health care professionals with relevant expertise.

The group was tasked with developing steps to help streamline the licensing and compliance process “to ensure the medical-use program is fulfilling the hallmarks of a regulated industry.”

In its five meetings, the group focused on topics including patient access and medical cannabis testing, Erik Gundersen, director of the Office of Marijuana Policy, said in a virtual presentation to the Legislature’s Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. The group soundly rejected the policy office’s previously proposed requirement that the medical market adopt a “track-and-trace” product tracking system. [Read more at Portland Press Herald]