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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7135
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3736
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
AN ACT EXTENDING THE VALIDITY OF WRITTEN CERTIFICATIONS
FOR MEDICAL MARIJUAN A AND IDENTIFYING VETERANS WHO
HAVE PRESCRIPTIONS T HEREFOR.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 21a-408c of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2019): 3
(b) Any initial written certification for the palliative use of marijuana 4
issued on or after October 1, 2019, by a physician or an advanced practice 5
registered nurse under subsection (a) of this section shall be valid for a 6
period not to exceed [one year] thirteen months from the date such initial 7
written certification is signed and dated by the physician or advanced 8
practice registered nurse, and any subsequent written certification shall be 9
valid for a period not to exceed one year from the date such subsequent 10
written certification is signed and dated. Not later than ten calendar days 11
after the expiration of such period, or at any time before the expiration of 12
such period should the qualifying patient no longer wish to possess 13
marijuana for palliative use, the qualifying patient or the primary 14 Raised Bill No. 7135
LCO No. 3736 2 of 3
caregiver shall destroy all usable marijuana possessed by the qualifying 15
patient and the primary caregiver for palliative use. 16
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 21a-408d of the general statutes is 17
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 18
1, 2019): 19
(a) Each qualifying patient who is issued a written certification for the 20
palliative use of marijuana under subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of 21
section 21a-408a, and the primary caregiver of such qualifying patient, 22
shall register with the Department of Consumer Protection. Such 23
registration shall be effective from the date the Department of Consumer 24
Protection issues a certificate of registration until the expiration of the 25
written certification issued by the physician or advanced practice 26
registered nurse. The qualifying patient and the primary caregiver shall 27
provide sufficient identifying information, as determined by the 28
department, to establish the personal identity of the qualifying patient and 29
the primary caregiver. The department shall afford the qualifying patient 30
an opportunity to provide information identifying such qualifying patient 31
as a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of section 27-103. If the qualifying 32
patient is under eighteen years of age and not an emancipated minor, the 33
custodial parent, guardian or other person having legal custody of the 34
qualifying patient shall also provide a letter from both the qualifying 35
patient's primary care provider and a physician who is board certified in 36
an area of medicine involved in the treatment of the debilitating condition 37
for which the qualifying patient was certified that confirms that the 38
palliative use of marijuana is in the best interest of the qualifying patient. 39
A physician may issue a written certification for the palliative use of 40
marijuana by a qualifying patient who is under eighteen years of age, 41
provided such written certification shall not be for marijuana in a dosage 42
form that requires that the marijuana be smoked, inhaled or vaporized. 43
The qualifying patient or the primary caregiver shall report any change in 44
the identifying information to the department not later than five business 45
days after such change. The department shall issue a registration 46
certificate to the qualifying patient and to the primary caregiver and may 47
charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed twenty-five dollars, for each 48 Raised Bill No. 7135
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registration certificate issued under this subsection. Any registration fees 49
collected by the department under this subsection shall be paid to the 50
State Treasurer and credited to the General Fund. 51
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 21a-408c(b)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 21a-408d(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To extend the validity of an initial medical certification for qualifying
medical marijuana patients and to provide such patients an opportunity to
provide identifying information that he or she is a veteran.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]