A Louisiana House committee has advanced a Senate-passed bill to let patients with terminal and irreversible conditions use medical marijuana in hospitals.
The House Health and Welfare Committee approved the legislation from Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews (D) in a unanimous 10-0 vote on Tuesday.
Under the proposal, hospitals would have to create written guidelines allowing covered patients to consume medical cannabis on-site in forms other than smoking or vaping.
Under an amendment adopted by a Senate committee last month, emergency or outpatient departments would be exempted from the policy. The revised legislation also clarifies that patients and primary caregivers are responsible for acquiring and administering medical marijuana, which must be “stored securely at all times in a locked container provided by the patient.”
Health care professionals and staff would be prohibited from “administering, storing, retrieving, or assisting the patient with the medical marijuana,” the text says.
The amendment, which the sponsor worked on with help from the Louisiana Hospital Association, also allows hospitals to opt out of the policy if federal officials take action against any healthcare facility in the state over medical cannabis use, rather than only allowing those that were specifically targeted to stop complying.
“This bill was brought
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