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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7287
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING RE VISIONS TO THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA
PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (3) of section 21a-408 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(3) "Debilitating medical condition" means (A) cancer, glaucoma, 4
positive status for human immunodeficiency virus or acquired 5
immune deficiency syndrome, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, 6
damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective 7
neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy or 8
uncontrolled intractable seizure disorder, cachexia, wasting syndrome, 9
Crohn's disease, posttraumatic stress disorder, irreversible spinal cord 10
injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, 11
cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, [or] terminal illness requiring end-of-life 12
care, or opioid use disorder, except, if the qualifying patient is under 13
eighteen years of age, "debilitating medical condition" means terminal 14
illness requiring end-of-life care, irreversible spinal cord injury with 15
objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, cerebral 16
palsy, cystic fibrosis, severe epilepsy or uncontrolled intractable 17
seizure disorder, or (B) any medical condition, medical treatment or 18
disease approved for qualifying patients by the Department of 19 Substitute Bill No. 7287
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Consumer Protection pursuant to regulations adopted under section 20
21a-408m; 21
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 21a-408d of the general statutes is 22
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 23
passage): 24
(a) Each qualifying patient who is issued a written certification for 25
the palliative use of marijuana under subdivision (1) of subsection (a) 26
of section 21a-408a, and the primary caregiver of such qualifying 27
patient, shall register with the Department of Consumer Protection. 28
Such registration shall be effective from the date the Department of 29
Consumer Protection issues a certificate of registration until the 30
expiration of the written certification issued by the physician or 31
advanced practice registered nurse. The qualifying patient and the 32
primary caregiver shall provide sufficient identifying information, as 33
determined by the department, to establish the personal identity of the 34
qualifying patient and the primary caregiver. If the qualifying patient 35
is under eighteen years of age and not an emancipated minor, the 36
custodial parent, guardian or other person having legal custody of the 37
qualifying patient shall also provide a letter from both the qualifying 38
patient's primary care provider and a physician who is board certified 39
in an area of medicine involved in the treatment of the debilitating 40
condition for which the qualifying patient was certified that confirms 41
that the palliative use of marijuana is in the best interest of the 42
qualifying patient. A physician may issue a written certification for the 43
palliative use of marijuana by a qualifying patient who is under 44
eighteen years of age, provided such written certification shall not be 45
for marijuana in a dosage form that requires that the marijuana be 46
smoked, inhaled or vaporized. The qualifying patient or the primary 47
caregiver shall report any change in the identifying information to the 48
department not later than five business days after such change. The 49
department shall issue a registration certificate to the qualifying 50
patient and to the primary caregiver [and may charge a reasonable fee, 51
not to exceed twenty-five dollars, for each registration certificate 52 Substitute Bill No. 7287
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issued under this subsection] at no charge. [Any registration fees 53
collected by the department under this subsection shall be paid to the 54
State Treasurer and credited to the General Fund.] 55
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of 56
Consumer Protection shall cease charging the nonrefundable fee for 57
administrative costs for each qualifying patient and the nonrefundable 58
application fee for each qualifying patient and caregiver under chapter 59
420f of the general statutes. The commissioner shall also cease charging 60
the renewal fee for each qualifying patient under chapter 420f of the 61
general statutes. The commissioner shall amend existing regulations to 62
eliminate such fees in accordance with the provisions of this section. 63
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 21a-408(3)
Sec. 2 from passage 21a-408d(a)
Sec. 3 from passage New section
GL Joint Favorable Subst.