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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repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019): 3
(b) Any initial written certification for the palliative use of 4
marijuana issued on or after October 1, 2019, by a physician or an 5
advanced practice registered nurse under subsection (a) of this section 6
shall be valid for a period not to exceed [one year] thirteen months 7
from the date such initial written certification is signed and dated by 8
the physician or advanced practice registered nurse, and any 9
subsequent written certification shall be valid for a period not to 10
exceed one year from the date such subsequent written certification is 11
signed and dated. Not later than ten calendar days after the expiration 12
of such period, or at any time before the expiration of such period 13
should the qualifying patient no longer wish to possess marijuana for 14
palliative use, the qualifying patient or the primary caregiver shall 15 Raised Bill No. 7135
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destroy all usable marijuana possessed by the qualifying patient and 16
the primary caregiver for palliative use. 17
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 21a-408d of the general statutes is 18
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 19
October 1, 2019): 20
(a) Each qualifying patient who is issued a written certification for 21
the palliative use of marijuana under subdivision (1) of subsection (a) 22
of section 21a-408a, and the primary caregiver of such qualifying 23
patient, shall register with the Department of Consumer Protection. 24
Such registration shall be effective from the date the Department of 25
Consumer Protection issues a certificate of registration until the 26
expiration of the written certification issued by the physician or 27
advanced practice registered nurse. The qualifying patient and the 28
primary caregiver shall provide sufficient identifying information, as 29
determined by the department, to establish the personal identity of the 30
qualifying patient and the primary caregiver. The department shall 31
afford the qualifying patient an opportunity to provide information 32
identifying such qualifying patient as a veteran, as defined in 33
subsection (a) of section 27-103. If the qualifying patient is under 34
eighteen years of age and not an emancipated minor, the custodial 35
parent, guardian or other person having legal custody of the qualifying 36
patient shall also provide a letter from both the qualifying patient's 37
primary care provider and a physician who is board certified in an 38
area of medicine involved in the treatment of the debilitating condition 39
for which the qualifying patient was certified that confirms that the 40
palliative use of marijuana is in the best interest of the qualifying 41
patient. A physician may issue a written certification for the palliative 42
use of marijuana by a qualifying patient who is under eighteen years 43
of age, provided such written certification shall not be for marijuana in 44
a dosage form that requires that the marijuana be smoked, inhaled or 45
vaporized. The qualifying patient or the primary caregiver shall report 46
any change in the identifying information to the department not later 47
than five business days after such change. The department shall issue a 48 Raised Bill No. 7135
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registration certificate to the qualifying patient and to the primary 49
caregiver and may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed twenty-five 50
dollars, for each registration certificate issued under this subsection. 51
Any registration fees collected by the department under this 52
subsection shall be paid to the State Treasurer and credited to the 53
General Fund. 54
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)
VA Joint Favorable