Provides that medical marihuana made be used for a condition, or symptom or complication of the condition or its treatment, for which, in the practitioner's professional opinion and review of past treatments, the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from primary or adjunctive treatment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8598
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
July 10, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GOTTFRIED, LUPARDO, ABINANTI, DINOWITZ, ROSEN-
THAL, ORTIZ, McDONALD, SIMON, SKOUFIS, CAHILL, BRONSON, D'URSO --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK, CRESPO -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to defining certain
terms regarding the use of medical marihuana
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 7 and 12 of section 3360 of the public
2 health law, as added by chapter 90 of the laws of 2014, are amended to
3 read as follows:
4 1. "Certified medical use" means the acquisition, possession, use, or,
5 transportation of medical marihuana by a certified patient, or the
6 acquisition, possession, delivery, transportation or administration of
7 medical marihuana by a designated caregiver, for use as part of the
8 treatment of the patient's [serious] condition, as authorized in a
9 certification under this title including enabling the patient to toler-
10 ate treatment for the [serious] condition. A certified medical use does
11 not include smoking.
12 7. [(a) "Serious condition"] "Condition" means:
13 [(i) having one of the following severe debilitating or life-threaten-
14 ing conditions: cancer, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus
15 or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
16 Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of
17 the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable
18 spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies,
19 Huntington's disease, or as added by the commissioner; and
20 (ii) any of the following conditions where it is clinically associated
21 with, or a complication of, a condition under this paragraph or its
22 treatment: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe or chronic pain; severe
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11942-02-7
A. 8598 2
1 nausea; seizures; severe or persistent muscle spasms; or such conditions
2 as are added by the commissioner.
3 (b) No later than eighteen months from the effective date of this
4 section, the commissioner shall determine whether to add the following
5 serious conditions: Alzheimer's, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, post-
6 traumatic stress disorder and rheumatoid arthritis] a condition, or
7 symptom or complication of the condition or its treatment, for which, in
8 the practitioner's professional opinion and review of past treatments,
9 the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from
10 primary or adjunctive treatment with medical use of medical marihuana.
11 12. "Practitioner" means a practitioner who [(i) is a physician
12 licensed by New York state and practicing within the state, (ii) who] is
13 authorized to prescribe a controlled substance by training or experience
14 and legal scope of practice, and is qualified to treat [a serious] the
15 condition [as defined in subdivision seven of this section;] that is the
16 basis for a patient's certification and [(iii)] has completed a two to
17 four hour course as determined by the commissioner in regulation and
18 registered with the department; provided however, a registration shall
19 not be denied without cause. Such course may count toward board certif-
20 ication requirements. [The commissioner shall consider the inclusion of
21 nurse practitioners under this title based upon considerations including
22 access and availability. After such consideration the commissioner is
23 authorized to deem nurse practitioners as practitioners under this
24 title.]
25 § 2. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 3361 of the public health law, as
26 added by chapter 90 of the laws of 2014, are amended to read as follows:
27 1. A patient certification may only be issued if: (a) a practitioner
28 has been registered with the department to issue a certification as
29 determined by the commissioner; (b) the patient has a [serious] condi-
30 tion, which shall be specified in the patient's health care record; (c)
31 the practitioner by training or experience is qualified to treat the
32 [serious] condition; (d) the patient is under the practitioner's contin-
33 uing care for the [serious] condition; and (e) in the practitioner's
34 professional opinion and review of past treatments, the patient is like-
35 ly to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the primary or
36 adjunctive treatment with medical use of marihuana for the [serious]
37 condition.
38 2. The certification shall include (a) the name, date of birth and
39 address of the patient; (b) a statement that the patient has a [serious]
40 condition as defined in this title and the patient is under the practi-
41 tioner's continuing care for the [serious] condition; (c) a statement
42 attesting that all requirements of subdivision one of this section have
43 been satisfied; (d) the date; and (e) the name, address, federal regis-
44 tration number, telephone number, and the handwritten signature of the
45 certifying practitioner. The commissioner may require by regulation that
46 the certification shall be on a form provided by the department. The
47 practitioner may state in the certification that, in the practitioner's
48 professional opinion, the patient would benefit from medical marihuana
49 only until a specified date. The practitioner may state in the certif-
50 ication that, in the practitioner's professional opinion, the patient is
51 terminally ill and that the certification shall not expire until the
52 patient dies.
53 § 3. Subdivision 11 of section 3363 of the public health law, as added
54 by chapter 90 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
55 11. A certified patient or designated caregiver who has been issued a
56 registry identification card shall notify the department of any change
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1 in his or her name or address or, with respect to the patient, if he or
2 she ceases to have the [serious] condition noted on the certification
3 within ten days of such change. The certified patient's or designated
4 caregiver's registry identification card shall be deemed invalid and
5 shall be returned promptly to the department.
6 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 3365-a of the public health law, as
7 added by chapter 416 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
8 1. There is hereby established in the department an emergency medical
9 marihuana access program (referred to in this section as the "program")
10 under this section. The purpose of the program is to expedite the avail-
11 ability of medical marihuana to avoid suffering and loss of life, during
12 the period before full implementation of and production under this
13 title, especially in the case of patients whose [serious] condition is
14 progressive and degenerative or is such that delay in the patient's
15 medical use of marihuana poses a serious risk to the patient's life or
16 health. The commissioner shall implement the program as expeditiously as
17 practicable, including by emergency regulation.
18 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately, provided however, that
19 the amendments to title 5-A of article 33 of the public health law made
20 by this act shall not affect the expiration and repeal of such title and
21 shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith.
