ENROLLED
ACT No. 444
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 190
BY REPRESENTATIVES TRAVIS JOHNSON AND GLOVER
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 40:966(F)(1), (7), and (8)(a), 1046(A)(1), (2)(a)(xviii), (xxii),
3 and (b), (3), (4), (5)(b), (6), and (C)(1), 1168.2(2) through (5), and
4 1168.3(A)(1)(b)(iii), (iv), and (2)(b) and to enact R.S. 40:1046(B), relative to the
5 recommendation to patients of marijuana for therapeutic use, known also as medical
6 marijuana; to provide relative to licensed health professionals who may recommend
7 medical marijuana to patients; to authorize nurse practitioners with prescriptive
8 authority to recommend medical marijuana to patients; to authorize medical
9 psychologists to recommend medical marijuana to patients; to revise references to
10 licensed health professionals who may recommend medical marijuana to patients
11 within laws providing for immunity from prosecution for possession of marijuana;
12 to revise references to licensed health professionals who may recommend medical
13 marijuana to patients within laws providing for a data system for the collection and
14 analysis of clinical information associated with use of medical marijuana; and to
15 provide for related matters.
16 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
17 Section 1. R.S. 40:966(F)(1), (7), and (8)(a), 1046(A)(1), (2)(a)(xviii), (xxii), and
18 (b), (3), (4), (5)(b), (6), and (C)(1), 1168.2(2) through (5), and 1168.3(A)(1)(b)(iii), (iv), and
19 (2)(b) are hereby amended and reenacted and R.S. 40:1046(B) is hereby enacted to read as
20 follows:
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1 §966. Penalty for distribution or possession with intent to distribute narcotic drugs
2 listed in Schedule I; possession of marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids, and
3 heroin
4 * * *
5 F. Immunity from prosecution. (1) Any person who is a patient of the
6 state-sponsored medical marijuana program in Louisiana, and possesses medical
7 marijuana in a form permissible under R.S. 40:1046 for a condition enumerated
8 therein, a caregiver as defined in R.S. 15:1503, or any person who is a domiciliary
9 parent of a minor child who possesses medical marijuana on behalf of his minor
10 child in a form permissible under R.S. 40:1046 for a condition enumerated therein
11 pursuant to a legitimate medical marijuana prescription or recommendation issued
12 by a physician licensed by and in good standing with the Louisiana State Board of
13 Medical Examiners licensed health professional authorized by R.S. 40:1046(B) to
14 recommend medical marijuana to patients, shall be exempt from the provisions of
15 this Section. This Paragraph shall not prevent the arrest or prosecution of any person
16 for diversion of marijuana or any of its derivatives or other conduct outside the scope
17 of the state-sponsored medical marijuana program.
18 * * *
19 (7) Any physician licensed health professional authorized by R.S.
20 40:1046(B) to recommend medical marijuana to patients who provides information
21 on marijuana for therapeutic use within a bona fide doctor-patient clinician-patient
22 relationship or who issues a recommendation to a patient for marijuana for
23 therapeutic use pursuant to R.S. 40:1046 shall be exempt from the prohibitions
24 provided in this Section for possession and distribution of marijuana. This Paragraph
25 shall not prohibit the arrest or prosecution of any person for diversion of medical
26 marijuana or any other conduct outside the scope of the state-sanctioned medical
27 marijuana program provided for in R.S. 40:1046.
28 (8)(a) The defenses in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall be raised by
29 reproducing a patient's medical records that have been created by his attending
30 physician, that contain the legitimate recommendation to possess marijuana for
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1 therapeutic use in a form permissible under R.S. 40:1046 issued by a licensed health
2 professional authorized by R.S. 40:1046(B) to recommend medical marijuana to
3 patients.
4 * * *
5 §1046. Recommendation and dispensing of marijuana for therapeutic use; rules and
6 regulations of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and
7 Louisiana Board of Pharmacy; production facility licensing by the
8 Department of Agriculture and Forestry
9 A.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, any physician
10 licensed by and in good standing with the Louisiana State Board of Medical
11 Examiners to practice medicine in this state clinician authorized by the provisions
12 of Subsection B of this Section to recommend medical marijuana, referred to in this
13 Section as an "authorized clinician", may recommend, in any form as permitted by
14 the rules and regulations of the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy, raw or crude
15 marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinols, or a chemical derivative of tetrahydrocannabinols
16 for therapeutic use by any patient clinically diagnosed as suffering from a
17 debilitating medical condition. Nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed to
18 prevent the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy from permitting, by rule, medical
19 marijuana in a form to be administered by metered-dose inhaler. For purposes of this
20 Section, "metered-dose inhaler" means a device that delivers a specific amount of
21 medication to the lungs, in the form of a short burst of medicine that is usually
22 self-administered by the patient via inhalation.
23 (2)(a) For purposes of this Subsection, "debilitating medical condition"
24 means any of the following:
25 * * *
26 (xviii) A concussion diagnosed by a physician an authorized clinician.
27 * * *
28 (xxii) Any condition not otherwise specified in this Subparagraph that a
29 physician an authorized clinician, in his medical clinical opinion, considers
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1 debilitating to an individual patient and is qualified through his medical clinical
2 education and training to treat.
3 (b) No physician authorized clinician shall recommend medical marijuana
4 for treatment of any condition associated with autism spectrum disorder for a patient
5 who is under the age of eighteen unless the physician clinician complies with the
6 provisions of this Section and consults with a pediatric subspecialist. For purposes
7 of this Subparagraph a pediatric subspecialist is an individual licensed to practice
8 medicine in any state in the United States who provides care to patients with autism
9 spectrum disorder.
10 * * *
11 (3) For purposes of this Part, "recommend" or "recommended" means an
12 opinion of any physician licensed by and in good standing with the Louisiana State
13 Board of Medical Examiners authorized clinician, provided within a bona fide
14 doctor-patient clinician-patient relationship, that, in the sincere judgment of the
15 physician clinician, therapeutic cannabis may be helpful to the patient's condition or
16 symptoms and is communicated by any means allowed by the Louisiana Board of
17 Pharmacy.
18 (4) Any physician licensed by and in good standing with the Louisiana State
19 Board of Medical Examiners to practice medicine in Louisiana authorized clinician
20 may recommend medical marijuana to any patient suffering from a debilitating
21 medical condition with whom he shares a bona fide doctor-patient clinician-patient
22 relationship.
23 (5)
24 * * *
25 (b) No pharmacy authorized to dispense marijuana for therapeutic use in
26 accordance with the provisions of this Section shall dispense raw or crude marijuana
27 to any person under twenty-one years of age without a recommendation from a
28 physician an authorized clinician specifically recommending marijuana in raw or
29 crude form for that person.
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1 (6) Physicians Authorized clinicians shall report adverse events and health
2 outcomes associated with a patient's use of medical marijuana to the data system
3 provided for in R.S. 40:1168.1 et seq.
4 B. All of the following licensed health professionals are hereby authorized
5 to recommend medical marijuana to patients and, for purposes of this Part, shall be
6 deemed "authorized clinicians":
7 (1) Any physician licensed by and in good standing with the Louisiana State
8 Board of Medical Examiners to practice medicine in this state.
9 (2) Any nurse practitioner licensed by and in good standing with the
10 Louisiana State Board of Nursing to practice advanced practice registered nursing
11 in this state and who has prescriptive authority conferred by the Louisiana State
12 Board of Nursing.
13 (3) Any medical psychologist licensed by and in good standing with the
14 Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to practice medical psychology in this
15 state.
16 C.(1) The Louisiana Board of Pharmacy shall adopt rules relating to the
17 dispensing of recommended marijuana for therapeutic use. Any rules published by
18 the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy on or before January 1, 2016, that describe the
19 pharmacist as dispensing medical marijuana based on a physician's prescription
20 should be repromulgated to indicate that the physician or other authorized clinician
21 is "recommending" use of therapeutic marijuana.
22 * * *
23 §1168.2. Definitions
24 For purposes of this Subpart, the following terms have the meaning ascribed
25 to them in this Section:
26 * * *
27 (2) "Authorized clinician" means all of the following licensed health
28 professionals authorized pursuant to R.S. 40:1046 to recommend medical marijuana
29 to patients:
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1 (a) Any physician licensed by and in good standing with the Louisiana State
2 Board of Medical Examiners to practice medicine in this state.
3 (b) Any nurse practitioner licensed by and in good standing with the
4 Louisiana State Board of Nursing to practice advanced practice registered nursing
5 in this state and who has prescriptive authority conferred by the Louisiana State
6 Board of Nursing.
7 (c) Any medical psychologist licensed by and in good standing with the
8 Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to practice medical psychology in this
9 state.
10 (2) (3) "Board" means the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.
11 (3) (4) "Data system" means the system authorized and provided for in R.S.
12 40:1168.3.
13 (4) (5) "Medical marijuana" means the therapeutic substance produced under
14 the authority of and in accordance with R.S. 40:1046.
15 (5) "Physician" has the meaning ascribed in R.S. 37:1262.
16 §1168.3. Data system; components; reporting; design in collaboration with medical
17 schools; public records exception
18 A. The board may create and maintain an electronic system for the collection
19 and analysis of clinical information associated with the use of medical marijuana by
20 patients. The system shall include, at minimum, the following components:
21 (1)
22 * * *
23 (b) The board shall design and administer the data system such that any of
24 the following persons may report an adverse event:
25 * * *
26 (iii) A physician An authorized clinician who prescribes or recommends
27 medical marijuana to a patient.
28 (iv) Any physician, medical psychologist, or advanced practice registered
29 nurse who treats a patient other than a physician an authorized clinician who
30 prescribes or recommends medical marijuana to the patient.
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1 (2)
2 * * *
3 (b) The board shall design and administer the data system such that reporting
4 of health outcomes is limited to physicians authorized clinicians exclusively.
5 * * *
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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