A Virginia lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require health care facilities in the state to allow terminally ill patients to access medical cannabis if they have a doctor’s recommendation.
The legislation, sponsored by Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra (D), would not permit patients to smoke or vape cannabis in the facilities, and their use of marijuana would have to be documented in their medical records.
But, similar to a law enacted in California in 2021, terminally ill patients could consume non-combustable cannabis products at state health facilities if they’ve received a certification from a physician.
The text of the Virginia bill states that the policy change would “not apply to a patient receiving emergency medical services.” And it specifies that health care facilities would not be mandated to issue medical cannabis certifications.
Also, the measure stipulates that facilities don’t have to comply with the law if a federal agency such as the Department of Justice or Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “initiates enforcement action against a medical care facility related to the facility’s compliance with a state-regulated medical marijuana program” or “issues a rule or otherwise provides notification to the medical care facility that expressly prohibits the use of
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