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Rebecca Boulos is the executive director of the Maine Public Health Association.
Earlier this month, a group of operators in Maine’s medical cannabis program held a rally at the Maine State House to oppose a bill that could protect patient safety and crack down on the illicit cannabis market. Whether by mistake, or by design, a lot of inaccurate information was shared, and as one of the lead advocacy groups in favor of this bill, I want to set the record straight.
Out of more than 30 states with medical cannabis programs, Maine is the only one that doesn’t require testing for contaminants like pesticides, mold and filth. That means thousands of patients who access medical cannabis, some of whom have weakened immune systems, have no idea whether the products they’re using to manage their conditions are tainted with chemicals or pathogens that might seriously harm their health. If you’re marketing a product as medicinal, I believe you should be required to test it to ensure that at the very least it doesn’t do more harm than good.
Cannabis plants in the medical program are not well tracked, which enables illicit growers to flood the market with dangerous products, some of which are contaminated with illegal pesticides. That influx of illicit growers can contribute to human trafficking, drive up electricity costs and reduce availability of desperately needed housing for Mainers.
The situation is even more absurd when you consider that the adult-use program already includes these basic safety measures.
LD 1847, sponsored by Rep. Anne Graham, D-North Yarmouth, and amended by Rep. Marc Malon, D-Biddebord, puts patients and public safety first. Her bill is the result of a year-long effort of stakeholder negotiations with operators in both the adult-use and medical programs, patients, testing facilities, regulators, law enforcement, health care providers, and cannabis policy experts and researchers. I believe we did our due diligence, and the Graham/Malon amendment reflects that. It balances the needs of public health and safety with support for small businesses.
The amendment from Graham and Malon implements nuanced, science-based testing, giving patients confidence that the products they’re consuming are safe. Testing is ongoing and uses a risk-based framework, matching specific contaminants with potential health risks based on how the cannabis is consumed. Testing consumable products — especially ones being used for health purposes — is a basic tenant of public health and safety.
Under current law, caregivers, even those that cultivate at home, are allowed to grow enough plant canopy to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The cost of testing and tracking is a small fraction of that. Nevertheless, the small home-grow caregivers negotiated an exemption from product testing, as long as products are clearly labeled as not having been tested for contaminants, a small concession to improve consumer transparency. Graham also establishes a fund for small operators (less than $125,000 in sales) to help defray testing costs. Testing and tracking are done by batch, not strain, and her bill doubles the batch size, saving businesses money.
Patients are worried about the safety of medical cannabis. We should be putting their needs first, and they should have the right to assume legal, medical products have been properly tested and are safe for them to consume. Regular scientific testing helps ensure patients are getting safe medicine at the right dose for their health needs.
Medical cannabis is a health product and should be regulated as such. When cannabis is contaminated, it harms the health of patients, who can end up in the emergency room, taking a financial and emotional toll, neither of which is borne by the cannabis industry.
The Graham/Malon amendment to LD 1847 is a reasonable compromise that balances public health and safety with support for small operators. Please take one minute to contact your legislators and ask them to support the Graham/Malon amendment (majority report) for LD 1847.
