Virginia lawmakers have approved a bill to allow qualifying patients to access medical marijuana in hospitals—but only after the federal government finalizes a pending proposal to reschedule cannabis.
The Senate Education and Health Committee voted 14-0 on Thursday to advance the legislation from Sen. Barbara Favola (D), days after it advanced through a subcommittee. The legislation would build upon existing state law 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 in the subcommittee.
Sen. Lamont Bagby (D) said at Thursday’s hearing that the bill “directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations specifying hospital staff may store, dispense and administer cannabis oil when a patient has valid certification, and it exempts such staff from criminal penalties or possessions of cannabis oil.”
Unlike other states where similar laws are in place or being considered this session—a policy known as
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