Home California Levine’s “Medical Cannabis Organ Transplant Act” Goes to the Governor

Levine’s “Medical Cannabis Organ Transplant Act” Goes to the Governor

by ECT

By a 33-1 vote, the Senate Monday approved AB 258, by Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-San Rafael), to make it easier for medicinal cannabis patients to receive a life-saving organ donation.

“Arcane public health policies treat medical cannabis patients as drug abusers.  As a result, too often, patients are denied a life-saving organ transplant solely because they are prescribed medical cannabis,” said Levine.  “Many of these patients have died after being denied an organ transplant, and many more are in jeopardy right now. The Medical Cannabis Organ Transplant Act (AB 258) will save lives by ensuring medical cannabis patients are not discriminated against in the organ transplant process.”

AB 258 would prohibit a hospital, physician, or any participant in the organ transplant process from using a patient’s use of medical cannabis as the sole reason in denying his or her eligibility as an organ recipient, except when medical cannabis use is clinically significant to that decision.

Cannabis is often prescribed to cancer patients to ease the pain and side effects caused by chemotherapy. These same patients often find themselves in need of an organ transplant. When they test positive for cannabis, they are often denied a place on the national organ transplant list.

“The Medical Cannabis Organ Transplant Act will bring organ transplant policies in California up to date with the growing body of scientific evidence surrounding medicinal cannabis, and will ultimately increase patient welfare and survival rates,” said Don Duncan California Director for Americans for Safe Access. “By ending discrimination against patients, the bill will reduce unnecessary suffering and avoidable deaths.”

AB 258 has been approved by both the Assembly and the Senate and now goes Governor Brown for his consideration.

Assemblymember Levine represents the 10th Assembly District, which includes Marin and Sonoma Counties.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 258, as amended, Levine. Organ transplants: medical marijuana users. marijuana: qualified patients.
Existing law, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, an initiative measure enacted by the approval of Proposition 215 at the November 6, 1996, statewide general election, authorizes the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Existing law enacted by the Legislature requires the establishment of a program for the issuance of identification cards to qualified patients so that they may lawfully use marijuana for medical purposes.
Existing law, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, regulates the making and distribution of organ donations.
This bill would prohibit a hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement organization, or other person from determining the ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift based solely upon a potential recipient’s status as a qualified patient, as specified, or based solely on upon a positive test for the use of medical marijuana by a potential recipient who is a qualified patient, except to the extent that the qualified patient’s use of medical marijuana has been found by a physician and surgeon, following a case-by-case evaluation of the potential recipient, to be medically significant to the provision of the anatomical gift. The bill would provide that these provisions shall not be deemed to require referrals or recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate organ transplants.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 7151.36 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

7151.36.

(a) A hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement organization, or other person shall not determine the ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift based solely upon a potential recipient’s status as a qualified patient, as defined in Section 11362.7, or based solely on upon a positive test for the use of medical marijuana by a potential recipient who is a qualified patient, as defined in Section 11362.7, except to the extent that the qualified patient’s use of medical marijuana has been found by a physician and surgeon, following a case-by-case evaluation of the potential recipient, to be medically significant to the provision of the anatomical gift.

(b) Subdivision (a) shall apply to each part of the organ transplant process. The organ transplant process includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The referral from a primary care provider to a specialist.
(2) The referral from a specialist to a transplant center.
(3) The evaluation of the patient for the transplant by the transplant center.
(4) The consideration of the patient for placement on the official waiting list.
(c) The court shall accord priority on its calendar and handle expeditiously any action brought to seek any remedy authorized by law for purposes of enforcing compliance with this section.
(d) This section shall not be deemed to require referrals or recommendations for, or the performance of, medically inappropriate organ transplants.

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