Medical marijuana advocates have flooded the State House in Massachusetts to hold a vigil for patients who died before they were allowed access to the illegal drug, which has been growing in acceptance as a treatment for chronic pain across the United States.

The advocates say they have watched friends, family, and loved ones struggle with difficult diseases until they die as the Massachusetts legislature drags its feet on the medical marijuana issue, according to a MassLive.com report.

About 63 percent of voters in 2012 in the state have approved a law that would allow those who have certain ailments to use medical marijuana. However, only one dispensary has opened since then.

Advocates criticize some state officials who they say treat cannabis as if “it were radioactive uranium,” according to the report. As a result, those who legitimately need the drug are suffering.

The state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Salem in recent years, with a second dispensary possibly opening in Boston early next year.

However, opponents hailed the feet-dragging, arguing that “nobody wants this in their backyard, said Andrew Beckwith, the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, according to the report. He said there are concerns that the drug may be associated with criminal activity and that it may be dangerous to take, and therefore it should take a long time for health officials to figure out the best way to “triage the damage done by this flawed policy.” Beckwith and his organization lobbied hard to defeat the 2012 ballot question, and pledged to do the same to the 2016 ballot question having to do with recreational marijuana. He said it’s been a “disaster” in Colorado where it has been legalized.