DEVENS — Once medical-marijuana dispensaries open for business across the state, qualified patients may walk into stores and buy a maximum 60-day supply — or 10 ounces — at a time.

Patients under age 18 will be faced with greater scrutiny and regulations than adults; they must be suffering from “life-limiting” illnesses and be certified for the drug use by two physicians — compared to one physician for an adult patient — in addition to having their guardians’ approval as well as other conditions, according to Alison Mehlman, deputy general counsel for the state Department of Public Health.

And those who live in public housing may need to move elsewhere to use medical marijuana. Marijuana, which remains an illegal substance under federal law, is prohibited in housing complexes maintained by an entity that receives federal funding, said Cheryl Sbarra, senior staff attorney for the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards.

But if towns and cities want their own rules for medical-marijuana dispensaries, what kind of restrictions would be allowed?

Mehlman said it’s a question that the DPH cannot answer. The state is neither requiring nor denying local involvement, she told the crowd packing the room at the Massachusetts Health Officers Association’s training session on medical marijuana on Thursday.

Mehlman and Sbarra updated municipal health officials from across the state on the details of the recently enacted state medical-marijuana law at the workshop held in Devens. Since the law passed in the state election in November, many municipalities have adopted or are in the process of developing new ordinances related to medical marijuana. Those participating in the workshop asked questions ranging from the definition of “life-limiting” illness — which means a condition that would likely cause death within two years, according to Mehlman — to whether it would be appropriate to require dispensaries to obtain a food permit.

Many participants said after the workshop that they still did not have much information to use as the basis for developing local health codes. That’s because the DPH is still in the process of developing finer details of the state regulations.

Lowell Health Director Frank Singleton said he is awaiting a clearer definition of what would constitute a “hardship” that would allow a patient to cultivate medical-marijuana at home, for example.

“Right now, there are more questions than answers,” Singleton said after the training session.

Opening of medical-marijuana dispensaries is a realistic scenario for communities across the state. The DPH received 181 applications for medical-marijuana dispensary licenses on Aug. 22. Forty-seven of those came from those considering opening dispensaries in Middlesex County.

The DPH is expected to announce the names of applicants who are selected for the second phase of the application process on Monday. It is unclear in which communities those 47 Middlesex County applicants intend to open their dispensaries because the first phase only required them to indicate the county in which they want to operate. But some applicants have already approached municipal officials in communities where they hope to do business. They include Shirley resident John Hillier, who wants to open a dispensary in Ayer, and Jonathan Napoli of Boston, who hopes to cultivate medical marijuana in Littleton.

Eric Slagle, director of Development Services for the city of Lowell, said between 20 and 30 individuals contacted the city before the Aug. 22 state application deadline to find out if the city had a moratorium on medical-marijuana facilities and other facts.

“The majority of them indicated to us that they have applied for a license,” said Slagle, who attended Thursday’s workshop.

Lowell does not have a moratorium on medical-marijuana facilities. Slagle said his department drafted zoning ordinances that apply to such facilities, but that it never moved beyond the City Council’s zoning subcommittee.

City Councilor Bill Martin, who serves on the subcommittee, said the drafted ordinances were presented before the state developed its regulations. The subcommittee decided not to adopt special zoning codes at this time because the state regulations covered much of what was in the local ones drafted, such as a minimum distance required between a dispensary and a school. The subcommittee intends to eventually come up with local ordinances, however, possibly increasing the dispensary-to-school distance to the state-required 500 feet to 1,000 feet and enhancing other components of the state regulations, Martin said.

Mehlman explained to workshop participants that physicians who will issue prescriptions for medical marijuana will be required to register with the state, and they will certify patients needing the medication. The certification must be based on “bona fide patient-physician relationship,” and no one would be allowed to drop into a doctor’s office whom he or she does not regularly see and walk away with a prescription, Mehlman said.

Registered physicians also must receive continual education on medical marijuana. Caregivers of these patients also must register with the state, and they cannot be younger than 21. For children who suffer from debilitating illnesses rather than life-limiting ones, there is a possibility for their physicians to override the state regulation and provide the patients with access to medical marijuana, Mehlman said. She also said dispensaries would not need a food permit but would need to meet food codes.

Singleton said his biggest concern isn’t about dispensaries but about home cultivation because extraction of cannabis poses danger of fire and other risks.

“Everybody is fixated about medical-marijuana dispensary issues. That’s a small part of the picture,” Singleton said.

Philip Ledger, health director for the town of Templeton, said he personally believes that establishing overly strict rules on dispensaries could encourage home cultivation, over which the state will have less oversight.

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