Many doctors have false assumptions about cannabis, such as the belief they cannot administer treatment to patients who test positive for cannabis. Luckily, Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has approved a second set of cannabis reform laws that safeguard patients from biased decisions and medical discrimination due to cannabis use. This will be instrumental in ensuring medical cannabis patients do not lose out on medical treatment that is everyone’s right.
The Pair Of Bills In Question
Lawmakers in California have brought forward a number of cannabis reform measures to be implemented in the final push before the legislative season.
One of the reform bills, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, is AB 1954 from Bill Quirk, which intends to protect patients from discriminatory decisions that deny a patient medical treatment due to a positive THC test if they are a registered medical cannabis patient in California.
Additionally, it states health care providers cannot be punished for providing care to a patient who uses medical marijuana in accordance with state law.
Cannabis advocates and officials highlight the necessity for this law as it will ensure there is no confusion among physicians regarding the treatment of medical cannabis patients when they test positive for THC. It will prevent situations such as those in which patients have previously been denied their opioid prescriptions for pain management due to cannabis use.
This makes absolutely no sense in light of the effectiveness of cannabis in managing chronic and acute pain. According to Larry Bedard, a physician, it is “irresponsible and unethical” for patients making use of medical cannabis for chronic pain relief to be eliminated from their pain management programs “because there is conclusive scientific evidence that cannabis is a safe and effective treatment for chronic pain.”
Newsom also signed a second bill that will change the law allowing registered patients to use medical marijuana products in hospitals. It would eliminate a clause that presently mandates compliance with other drug and medication regulations by healthcare facilities that allow patients to use medical cannabis.
This second measure will mandate that medical cannabis must always be stored safely and that a patient or primary caregiver, as specified, be in charge of obtaining, retrieving, and administering the cannabis.
The patient or the patient’s primary caregiver must also remove any remaining medicinal cannabis before discharge. If the patient is unable to do so or does not have a primary caregiver, the cannabis product must be kept in a locked container until it is disposed of.
Additional Reform Measures Being Considered
A bill that would guarantee medicinal cannabis patients in the entire state have access to delivery services was also sent by lawmakers to the governor. This would basically put an end to the current practice that permits local governments to prohibit the use of any cannabis license type within their borders.
The law, according to Sen. Scott Wiener and other advocates, will both increase patient access and fill gaps in the state where no cannabis license types have been permitted, complicating matters for patients and providing an incentive for illegal suppliers.
A bill offering workplace safeguards for the majority of employees who use cannabis outside of work has passed the legislature. This has many cannabis activists celebrating after earlier iterations had been stalling in committee.
There is a proposal that would permit interstate cannabis trading at last. Sen. Anna Caballero, the bill’s sponsor, claims that California can and ought to lay the basis for a multi-state legal cannabis market. This will “put a dent in the deadly illicit market” and benefit both “our rural economy and our workforce.”
Finally, a reform measure to streamline record sealing for those with admissible cannabis-related convictions is being passed. The new law will help many people get a fresh start and recover from the unjust convictions that they continue to pay for – long after cannabis has been decriminalized in many states.
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