Virginia Senators Approve Bill To Let Patients Access Medical Marijuana In Hospitals After Federal Rescheduling

Virginia lawmakers have approved a bill to allow qualifying patients to
access medical marijuana in hospitals—but only if the federal government
moves forward with a pending plan to reschedule cannabis.

The Senate Education and Health Subcommittee on Health voted 4-0 on Tuesday
to advance the legislation from Sen. Barbara Favola (D). The proposal would
build upon existing state statute protecting health professionals at
hospices and nursing facilities that assist terminally ill patients in
utilizing medical cannabis treatment.

Those protections would be expanded to hospital workers under the
substitute version of the bill that was approved by the subcommittee. As
originally introduced, the measure would have simply directed the state the
Department of Health to form a working group to explore the reform, but its
scope was expanded prior to the vote.

“What this bill does is it just allows a hospital to use medical cannabis
under a prescription,” the sponsor of the Virginia measure said ahead of
Tuesday’s vote. “Medical cannabis is currently available and can be used in
a nursing home, a hospice, a hospice facility or assisted living facility.
We are just adding hospitals to the current statute.”

Unlike other states where similar laws are in place or being considered
this session—a policy known as “Ryan’s law,” named after a young medical
marijuana patient in California who passed away—the Virginia bill would
only extend the protections to hospital settings if cannabis is federally
rescheduled.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December directing the
attorney general to expeditiously move marijuana from Schedule I to
Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), but that’s yet to
materialize.

Meanwhile in Virginia, lawmakers are also considering more robust reforms
to the state’s marijuana laws, including proposals to legalize cannabis
sales and provide pathways for resentencing for those with prior cannabis
convictions.

A recent poll found that lawmakers seeking to allow commercial marijuana
sales have the support of a majority of registered voters.

The survey results come as committees in the Virginia House of Delegates
and Senate have recently approved bills to legalize and regulate the
adult-use cannabis market.

While there are some differences between the chambers’ bills, the overall
proposals largely align with recommendations released last month by the
legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the
Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market.

Since legalizing cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021, Virginia
lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to
have those efforts consistently stalled under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin
(R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by
the legislature.

Newly sworn-in Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) supports legalizing adult-use
marijuana sales.


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Meanwhile, Virginia lawmakers have filed other marijuana-related
legislation for the 2026 session, including a proposal to provide
resentencing relief for people convicted of past cannabis crimes.

Separately, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently
published a new outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers.

The post Virginia Senators Approve Bill To Let Patients Access Medical
Marijuana In Hospitals After Federal Rescheduling appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.