2026 Public Courage Award Nominee: Rep. Marc G. Malon

“The word medical means something; it connotes a higher purpose and quality.”

Maine State Representative Marc G. Malon has made medical cannabis testing and patient protection a policy priority. His focus is straightforward: if cannabis is being sold to patients as medicine, those patients should be able to expect meaningful safety standards to come with it.

That expectation is especially important in Maine because medical cannabis is not currently subject to mandatory contaminant testing. Some caregivers and dispensaries voluntarily test their products, but the state does not require every medical cannabis product to be screened for contaminants before it reaches a patient. Maine’s adult use program, by contrast, does require contaminant testing.

Patients do not necessarily know that distinction. A regulated medical cannabis program can carry an assumption that products have already passed basic safety checks. Yet contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, mold, and harmful microbes are not necessarily visible to the naked eye. Without mandatory testing, patients may have to ask individual providers whether a product was tested, what it was tested for, and what standards were used. Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy itself advises medical cannabis patients to ask what testing, if any, has been performed on cannabis products before making a purchase.

Malon has worked to change that. In 2025, he sponsored LD 104, An Act to Protect the Health of Medical Cannabis Patients and Streamline the Mandatory Testing of Cannabis. The proposal would have established mandatory testing and tracking for Maine’s medical cannabis program, bringing safety requirements to a supply chain where testing is currently voluntary.

“It shouldn’t be left to patients to have to navigate the ins and outs of whether their products are properly tested.”

When LD 104 did not become law, the issue did not disappear. Mandatory testing and tracking returned to the Legislature through LD 1847, which proposed applying testing and tracking requirements to medical cannabis similar to those used in Maine’s adult use system. Malon serves on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, where the Legislature considers cannabis legislation, including LD 1847, which he co-authored with Rep. Annie Graham.

For Malon, the policy question keeps coming back to the patient. People seeking medical cannabis should not have to become experts in laboratory testing to know whether their medicine has been screened for potential hazards. His advocacy has helped keep that basic patient safety question in front of Maine lawmakers.

“I am honored to accept this nomination on behalf of the many dedicated and brave public servants working to ensure that legal medical cannabis is safe and accessible in Maine. We will continue our efforts to establish testing protocols for medical cannabis that protect patients’ health and safety and that allow medical cannabis providers to serve their communities with clear and consistent standards.”

The Public Courage Award recognizes elected officials who bring cannabis safety and patient access concerns into the policymaking process. Malon has used his position to keep medical cannabis testing on that agenda and to make a simple expectation part of the conversation: when Maine calls cannabis medical, patients should be able to expect medical safety standards.

Learn more about Rep. Marc G. Malon:

Official Maine House profile: Rep. Marc G. Malon
LD 104 legislative record: Maine Legislature
LD 1847 legislative record: Maine Legislature
Media coverage: WABI