Bill > SB270

This bill enacts a new law, R.S. 40:1046.5, to allow terminally ill patients in licensed healthcare facilities to use medical marijuana, which is marijuana for therapeutic use recommended to a patient according to existing law. A "healthcare facility" is defined as a licensed facility but specifically excludes behavioral health units and emergency or outpatient hospital departments. The bill outlines requirements for healthcare facilities, such as prohibiting smoking or vaping of medical marijuana, requiring its inclusion in patient medical records, and mandating that patients or their primary caregivers are responsible for obtaining, administering, and removing the marijuana, which must be stored securely in a locked container. Crucially, healthcare professionals are prohibited from administering or assisting with the medical marijuana, and facilities are not required to provide recommendations or include medical marijuana in discharge plans. The bill also states that compliance with these provisions will not affect a facility's license and allows facilities to suspend compliance if federal agencies like the Department of Justice or Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services take action against them related to medical marijuana use, or if federal regulations expressly prohibit it. Importantly, healthcare facilities cannot prohibit a terminally ill patient's use of medical marijuana solely because marijuana is a Schedule I drug under federal law or due to other pre-existing federal constraints.

Health and Social Services

https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26rs&b=SB270&sbi=y