By Kay Lazar Globe Staff

An Iraqi Army veteran from Newton worries that medical marijuana will not be legally available in Massachusetts for vets seeking treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.

The chairman of a Weymouth substance abuse treatment program is concerned that regulators will be too lenient when crafting new rules, creating easy access for teens seeking pot for recreational use.

And family physicians fear losing their federally-issued licenses to prescribe pain medications if they recommend marijuana for patients, a practice not sanctioned by federal laws.

They were among an audience of approximately 200, of which about 50 voiced their concerns and suggestions Thursday at Roxbury Community College in a three-hour “listening session” by state regulators to help them craft highly anticipated regulations guiding the medical use of marijuana.

Under a November ballot referendum that legalized medical marijuana, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is required to issue regulations by May 1, although officials recently said the complexity of the issue may take them a bit longer to complete the task.

Dave Morgan, a retired pharmacist who heads Weymouth’s Substance Abuse Prevention Team, urged regulators to consider not allowing edible marijuana, such as cookies or candies, which are permitted in some of the other 17 states that have legalized the medical use of marijuana.

“As a pharmacist, we don’t put Lipitor in cheeseburgers,” Morgan said. “Medicine is not smoked and is not compounded into food and candies. If you want it to be called medicine, treat it as medicine.”