Amd §30, add Art 3-A §50, Cannabis L; amd §206, Pub Health L
Relates to the topics of the course required to be taken by practitioners certifying patients as eligible for medical cannabis; establishes the endocannabinoid system awareness program; requires the office of cannabis awareness and the department of health to publish information about the endocannabinoid system awareness program on their websites.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6972--B
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 27, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. HARCKHAM, SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the
Committee on Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the cannabis law and the public health law, in relation
to the course required to be taken by practitioners certifying
patients as eligible for medical cannabis and establishing the endo-
cannabinoid system awareness program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 30 of the cannabis law, as amended
2 by chapter 544 of the laws of 2025, is amended and a new subdivision 9
3 is added to read as follows:
4 8. (a) Prior to issuing a certification a practitioner must complete
5 appropriate training as determined by the board in regulation; provided,
6 however, that such course shall, at a minimum, meet the requirements of
7 paragraph (c) of this subdivision. For the purposes of this article a
8 person's status as a practitioner is deemed to be a "license" for the
9 purposes of section thirty-three hundred ninety of the public health law
10 and shall be subject to the same revocation process.
11 (b) The office shall approve at least one course for practitioners
12 seeking to certify patients for medical cannabis, which shall be a mini-
13 mum of two hours in duration.
14 (c) The educational content of such course or courses shall include:
15 the pharmacology of cannabis; contraindications; side effects; adverse
16 reactions; overdose prevention; drug interactions; dosing; routes of
17 administration; risks and benefits; warnings and precautions; abuse and
18 dependence; and such other components as determined by the office.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08994-08-6
S. 6972--B 2
1 9. The office shall provide information on the office's website on the
2 endocannabinoid system awareness program established pursuant to section
3 fifty of this chapter, including the information and guidance estab-
4 lished pursuant to subdivision two of such section.
5 § 2. The cannabis law is amended by adding a new article 3-A to read
6 as follows:
7 ARTICLE 3-A
8 ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM AWARENESS PROGRAM
9 Section 50. Endocannabinoid system awareness program.
10 § 50. Endocannabinoid system awareness program. 1. There is hereby
11 established within the office, in consultation with the department of
12 health, the endocannabinoid system awareness program which shall create
13 educational materials for health care practitioners regarding the endo-
14 cannabinoid system and how it interacts with other bodily systems.
15 2. The executive director, in consultation with the commissioner of
16 health, shall create comprehensive information and guidance regarding
17 the endocannabinoid system and how it interacts with other bodily func-
18 tions. Such information and guidance shall include, but not be limited
19 to, the following topics:
20 (a) the endocannabinoid system;
21 (b) cannabinoids, chronic pain and opioids;
22 (c) pharmacogenetics and cannabis;
23 (d) federal food and drug administration (FDA) approved cannabinoid
24 medications;
25 (e) risks, benefits, and impacts of cannabis consumption on body
26 systems; and
27 (f) interactions of cannabis with other medications.
28 § 3. Section 206 of the public health law is amended by adding a new
29 subdivision 32 to read as follows:
30 32. The commissioner shall:
31 (a) send guidance to health care practitioners on the need to be aware
32 of the endocannabinoid system and how it interacts with other bodily
33 functions; and
34 (b) provide information on the department's website on the endocanna-
35 binoid system awareness program, including the information and guidance
36 established pursuant to subdivision two of section fifty of the cannabis
37 law.
38 § 4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
39 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of
40 any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on
41 its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before
42 such effective date.
