Marijuana Moment: Louisiana Senate Passes Bill To Let Terminally Ill Patients Use Medical Marijuana In Hospitals

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The Louisiana Senate has passed a bill to let patients with terminal and irreversible conditions use medical marijuana in hospitals.

The body approved the legislation, SB 270 from Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews (D), in a vote of 33-2 on Wednesday. It now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

“This bill does exactly what the title says,” Jackson-Andrews said on the floor ahead of the vote. “When a patient is in pain and they believe that therapeutic marijuana will work and have a prescription for it, it allows them to have that prescription delivered to the hospital and administered by one of their family members or themselves.”

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 earlier this 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 at the request of constituents who believe that therapeutic medical marijuana, which is already legal in this state, should be offered in hospitals when patients are terminally ill or otherwise in need the comfort of this medicine,” Jackson-Andrews told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee when the panel took up the legislation.

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Meanwhile in Louisiana, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee recently approved a bill to create a psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program, using opioid settlement dollars to fund clinical trials aimed at developing alternative treatments such as psilocybin and ibogaine.

Lawmakers are also considering legislation to create an adult-use marijuana legalization pilot program in the state to determine whether the reform should eventually be expanded and permanently codified.

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