MCCA’s members have provided education and advocacy for medical patients and caregivers since 2010.
Some of our accomplishments:
– Authored and procured sponsors for LD 538, the visiting patients law, which supports patient access and caregiver businesses.
– Defeated LD 2099 in 2020, which would have led to punitive fines in the tens of thousands of dollars among additional abusive regulations.
– Defeated the repeated effort to “re-criminalize” cannabis and prevented the creation of an MDEA Cannabis enforcement unit.
– Preserved caregiver’s rights to safe ethanol extraction through defeating restrictions in the committee process.
– Protected every caregiver’s right to process other caregivers’ products without additional licensing. (Part of LD 1129)
– Helped make it possible for Caregivers to measure cultivation limits by plant canopy size (LD 1218).
– In Spring 2021 we blocked OMPs proposed rules overhaul that we believe would have harmed Maine caregivers and patients. This was accomplished via emergency legislation drafted by the MCCA and followed up and ensured by the passing of LD 1242.
– Members spearheaded LD 1242 and LD 939, which passed both the house and senate with a vast majority.
– Members of MCCA have also participated in past legislative and advocacy groups within the state since the early years of the program, including but not limited to Compassionate Caregivers of Maine, Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, Cannabis Patients Action Coalition, etc.
– We acted quickly communicating with the governor and legislators to gain “Essential Business” status for Medical Marijuana businesses during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
– Members have testified at every cannabis and hemp hearing in 2018-2020 to protect and preserve the Maine Medical Program and Maine’s small businesses.
Whats Ahead:
– Advancing legislation drafted by the MCCA to permanently protect the Medical Program as well as improve it for patients and small businesses, and supporting legislation drafted by other parties sharing the same goal.
– Supporting small business growth and profitability in the Medical and Adult Use Programs