[Text of section added by 2017, 55, Sec. 44 effective upon fulfillment of the conditions of 2017, 55, Sec. 82.]

Section 2. (a) The commission shall operate a medical use of marijuana program, which shall permit a qualifying patient with a debilitating medical condition to obtain a written or electronic certification from a healthcare professional with whom the patient has a bona fide healthcare professional-patient relationship to purchase medical use marijuana from a medical marijuana treatment center. Upon issuance of a written certification from a healthcare professional, the commission shall issue a registration card to the qualifying patient. A medical marijuana treatment center may sell medical use marijuana to a card holder.

(b) (1) A healthcare professional shall not be penalized, in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, for: (i) advising a qualifying patient about the risks and benefits of the medical use of marijuana within a bona fide healthcare professional-patient relationship; or (ii) providing a qualifying patient with written or electronic certification, based upon a full assessment of the qualifying patient's medical history and condition, including a debilitating medical condition, that the medical use of marijuana may benefit a particular qualifying patient, within a bona fide healthcare professional-patient relationship.

(2) A qualifying patient or a personal caregiver shall not be subject to arrest or prosecution, or civil penalty, for medical use marijuana.

(3) No person shall be arrested or prosecuted for any criminal offense solely for being in the presence of medical use marijuana or its use as authorized by this chapter.

(4) The lawful possession, cultivation, transfer, transport, distribution or manufacture of medical use marijuana as authorized by this section shall not result in the forfeiture or seizure of any property.

(c) A medical marijuana treatment center and its employees registered with the commission shall not be penalized or arrested for acquiring, possessing, cultivating, processing, transferring, transporting, selling, distributing or dispensing medical use marijuana and related supplies and educational materials to qualifying patients or their personal caregivers.

(d) The commission shall issue a cultivation registration to a qualifying patient applying for such registration whose access to a medical marijuana treatment center is limited by verified financial hardship, a physical incapacity to access reasonable transportation or the lack of a medical marijuana treatment center within a reasonable distance of the qualifying patient's residence. The commission may deny a registration based on the provision of false information by the applicant. Such registration shall allow the qualifying patient or the qualifying patient's personal caregiver to cultivate a limited number of plants, sufficient to maintain a 60-day supply of marijuana, and shall require cultivation and storage only in an enclosed, locked area.

(e) The commission shall maintain a confidential list of registered qualifying patients issued medical use marijuana registration cards. Individual names and other identifying information on the list shall be exempt from section 10 of chapter 66, and not subject to disclosure, except to employees of the commission in the course of their official duties and to law enforcement officials of the commonwealth when verifying a card holder's registration.