SB 1216 Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act or Ryan’s Law

This bill is part of the 2020 Cannabis Bills section of our ongoing update on California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update which includes information on cannabis bills from other years. 

SB 1216  (Hueso D)   Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act or Ryan’s Law.

This bill, the Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act or Ryan’s Law, would prohibit specified types of health care facilities from prohibiting or interfering with a terminally ill patient’s use of medicinal cannabis within the health care facility, subject to certain restrictions. The bill would require a patient to provide the health care facility with a copy of their medical marijuana card or written documentation that the use of medicinal cannabis is recommended by a physician. The bill would authorize a health care facility to reasonably restrict the manner in which a patient stores and uses medicinal cannabis to ensure the safety of other patients, guests, and employees of the health care facility, compliance with other state laws, and the safe operations of the health care facility. The bill would prohibit the department that licenses the health care facility from enforcing these provisions, and compliance with the bill would not be a condition for obtaining, retaining, or renewing a license as a health care facility. The bill would authorize a health care facility to suspend compliance with these provisions if a regulatory agency, the United States Department of Justice, or the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services takes specified actions, including initiating an enforcement action against a health care facility related to the facility’s compliance with a state-regulated medical marijuana program.

Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.

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