Cannabis Clinical Care Line Pilot

The Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) is the state government agency responsible for regulating the cultivation, manufacture, testing, and distribution of medical and adult-use cannabis in Maryland, as well as registration for medical cannabis patients and certifying healthcare providers. As the cannabis landscape rapidly evolves, MCA continues to prioritize its medical cannabis program and ensure the program meets the needs of new and existing medical patients. Through surveys and listening sessions, MCA has heard that patients would value additional tools to obtain professional information on medical cannabis topics.

A cannabis helpline (hereafter, ‘cannabis care line’ or CCL) could enhance clinical access, while retaining existing program partners including certifying providers and Clinical Directors, as additional touchpoints will be needed with the state’s growing cannabis marketplace. Furthermore, the CCL helps ensure clinical access for social equity licensees, namely 70+ recipients of conditional dispensary licensees in 2024, who are not required to have a Clinical Director for two (2) years after becoming operational (micro dispensaries are not required to offer Clinical Director services at any time; see Cannabis Reform Act legislation ). The CCL could also offer basic screening and referrals for problem use, filling a current gap and area of concern for many stakeholders, offering another access point for information on problem use for patients and caregivers as well as certifying providers and Clinical Directors.

MCA is approaching the CCL as a ‘pilot’ to enhance current offerings and gain insight into caller type, volume of calls, timing of calls (optimal hours of operation), and common topics/inquiries. The desired outcome of the pilot is to determine the extent to which it supports MCA’s goals to enhance the medical cannabis program to optimally meet patients’ needs as well as an understanding of the resources needed to support a cannabis care line long term.