Relating to the medical cannabidiol Act

This bill relates to the medical cannabidiol Act. The bill is organized into divisions. DIVISION I —— MEDICAL CANNABIDIOL ACT. This division makes changes to the medical cannabidiol Act (Code chapter 124E). The bill changes the name of the medical cannabidiol Act to the medical cannabis Act. The bill adds new medical conditions to the current list of debilitating medical conditions for which a health care practitioner may issue a written certification to a patient for a medical cannabidiol registration card pursuant to the medical cannabidiol Act. 2(6), is allowed to contain. The bill prohibits a dispensary from dispensing more than grams of THC to a patient or a patient’s caregiver in a 90-day period. The bill allows the department of public health to disclose certain patient information to authorized employees of medical cannabidiol dispensaries to ensure that a person has not purchased THC in excess of this limit. The bill requires the department to adopt rules allowing a patient or a patient’s caregiver to receive more than grams of THC in a 90-day period if the patient’s primary caregiver determines that grams of THC is not sufficient to treat the patient’s debilitating medical condition and that the patient’s debilitating medical condition is a terminal illness with a life expectancy of less than one year. The bill changes the medical cannabidiol registration card fee for a patient applying for a registration card from $100 to $25, the same as the registration card fee for a primary caregiver. The bill amends the definition of “health care practitioner” to allow a licensed physician assistant, licensed podiatric physician, licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner, and an advanced practice registered nurse to certify a patient to receive a medical cannabidiol registration card. The bill requires the department of public health to issue a request for proposals and license up to medical cannabidiol dispensaries by April 1, 2021, with priority given to dispensaries serving rural communities. The bill amends the membership of the medical cannabidiol board by adding three members who are patients with valid medical cannabidiol registration cards. The bill removes the department of transportation from the process of issuing medical cannabidiol registration cards. The bill provides that any medical cannabidiol registration card issued by the department of transportation prior to July 1, 2020, remains in effect and continues in effect for the 12-month period following its issuance. The bill requires the department of public health to issue medical cannabidiol registration cards. The bill removes the board of medicine from the process for adding conditions to the list of debilitating medical conditions. The bill allows the medical cannabidiol board to make recommendations for new conditions directly to the department of public health. DIVISION II —— CONFORMING CHANGES. This division changes references throughout the Code from “medical cannabidiol” to “medical cannabis”.