Washington Bill To Let Seriously Ill Patients Use Medical Cannabis In Hospitals Advances

Washington State lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow
terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities
such as hospitals, nursing homes and hospices.

The House Health Care & Wellness Committee advanced the legislation,
sponsored by Rep. Shelley Kloba (D), in a 17-1 vote.

“This bill here builds on what we have as a decades-long experience with
medical cannabis, in very controlled kind of environment,” Kloba said at a
hearing before the panel last week. “I believe that with this bill we have
struck a balance between a process that works for hospitals and gives them
the kind of safeguards that they want and meets the needs of terminal
patients who would like to try something maybe a little different than the
standard care for a palliative situation.”

If enacted into law, HB 2152 would mandate that hospitals and other
specified healthcare facilities allow terminally ill patients to use
medical marijuana on the premises beginning on January 1, 2027, subject to
certain rules and restrictions.

“The medical use of cannabis may support improved quality of life for a
qualifying patient…with a terminal condition,” the bill’s text says. “It is
the intent of the legislature to promote dignity and comfort for terminally
ill patients while maintaining the integrity and safety of health care
environments.”

Patients and their caregivers would be responsible for acquiring and
administering medical marijuana, and it would need to be stored securely at
all times in a locked container.

Smoking or vaping of cannabis would be prohibited, so patients would need
to consume it via other methods.

Marijuana could not be shared between patients and visitors, and the right
to use medical cannabis under the bill would not apply to patients who are
in the emergency department.

Healthcare facility officials would need to see a copy of patients’
authorization to use medical cannabis, and they would be required to note
their use of the drug in medical records. They would also need to establish
a formal policy “allowing for the medical use of cannabis” on the premises.

Facilities would also be able to suspend permission to use cannabis under
the bill if a federal agency such as the U.S. Department of Justice or
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services takes an enforcement action
against such use or “issues a rule or other notification that expressly
prohibits the medical use of cannabis in health care facilities.”

The panel adopted an amendment to exempt nursing homes operated by a
residential habilitation center from the requirement to allow the medical
use of cannabis, to clarify that the bill doesn’t apply to patients who
haven’t been formally admitted to a hospital and to specify that patients
and their caregivers are responsible for retrieving the medical cannabis
(in addition to their responsibilities related to acquiring, administering,
and removing the medical cannabis).

The committee also approved an amendment to add a prohibition on healthcare
professionals and staff from retrieving a patient’s medical cannabis from
storage.

Another amendment that would have exempted facilities certified by the
federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as critical access
hospitals from the requirement to allow the medical use of cannabis was
withdrawn by its sponsor.


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California and a handful of other states already have laws allowing
terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities.
Known as “Ryan’s Law,” the legislation is partly inspired by the experience
of Jim Bartell, whose son died from cancer and was initially denied access
to cannabis at a California hospital.

The Bartells did eventually find a facility that agreed to allow the
treatment, and Jim said Ryan’s quality of life improved dramatically in his
final days.

“In the invaluable last days as Ryan fought stage 4 pancreatic cancer, I
first-handedly experienced the positive impact medical cannabis had on my
son’s well-being, as opposed to the harsh effects of opiates,” Bartell said
in 2021 when California’s governor signed Ryan’s Law. “Medical cannabis is
an excellent option for relieving pain and suffering in those who are
terminally-ill, but most importantly it serves to provide compassion,
support, and dignity to patients and their families, during their
loved-ones’ final days.”

“Looking at each other, holding Ryan’s hand and telling him how much I
loved him during his final moments would not have been possible without the
medical cannabis,” he said.

The post Washington Bill To Let Seriously Ill Patients Use Medical Cannabis
In Hospitals Advances appeared first on Marijuana Moment.