Massachusetts wrote telehealth certification permanently into its regulations in November 2024. Both new and renewal patients can complete the entire process via live video — no clinic visit required.
Book a live video appointment with a Massachusetts-licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant registered with the CCC Medical Use of Marijuana Program. Massachusetts uses a provider-discretion standard — no fixed qualifying conditions list — so your provider evaluates whether medical cannabis may benefit your condition.
After your provider issues your certification, register at the CCC's Medical Use of Marijuana Program Online System (MMJOS) at patient.massciportal.com. The state charges no registration fee. Initial Access allows you to purchase at an MTC for up to 14 days while your card is processed. Cards typically arrive within 7–14 business days.
Present your Massachusetts Program registration card and a valid photo ID at any licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MTC) statewide. Medical patients are exempt from the 10.75% recreational excise tax — a meaningful saving on every purchase. Your allotment is 10 oz per 60 days.
Whether you're in Harvard Square, Central Square, Inman Square, East New Bedford, Porter Square, or anywhere across New Bedford — your CCC-registered provider is a live video call away.
Direct answers, sourced from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, to questions New Bedford residents ask most about Massachusetts's Medical Use of Marijuana Program.
New Bedford is Massachusetts's seventh-largest city and the historic Whaling City — a community of more than 95,000 residents on Buzzards Bay in southeastern Massachusetts, home to the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, a thriving commercial fishing industry, a vibrant Portuguese heritage, and the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. Massachusetts's Medical Use of Marijuana Program, administered by the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), allows qualifying patients to access cannabis at licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers statewide — with no registration fee, permanent telehealth certification, and a 10.75% excise tax exemption on every purchase. NewBedfordMarijuana.clinic connects New Bedford residents with CCC-registered providers via telehealth.
Massachusetts does not maintain a fixed list of qualifying conditions. Under CCC regulations, a certified provider may recommend medical cannabis for any condition they determine to be debilitating. Commonly certified conditions include chronic pain, cancer, PTSD, anxiety, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, hepatitis C, and insomnia. The open standard gives New Bedford's diverse patient population one of the most accessible pathways to certification in the country. For more information visit masscannabiscontrol.com/patients-caregivers/.
In November 2024, the CCC amended 935 CMR 501.000 so that "Clinical Visit" is permanently defined to include telehealth. Under 935 CMR 501.010, initial certifications and renewals may both be conducted via live video at the patient's request. This is a permanent regulation — not a waiver — making Massachusetts one of a small number of states to codify telehealth certification into its permanent medical cannabis rules. New Bedford patients can book, attend, and receive their certification entirely online without a single clinic visit.
Massachusetts medical marijuana patients are exempt from the 10.75% recreational excise tax, which applies to all adult-use cannabis purchases. For regular users, this exemption can save hundreds of dollars annually. Additionally, the CCC's Initial Access program allows newly certified patients to purchase at any licensed MTC for up to 14 days while their registration card is being processed — meaning New Bedford patients can often visit a dispensary the day they get certified. Find licensed MTCs near New Bedford at masscannabiscontrol.com/where-to-buy/.
