CONCERNING REGULATION OF 101 THE PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS, AND MAKING APPROPRIATIONS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.
This bill amends the statue concerning the medical marijuana program to regulate the role of physicians in certifying that an individual may benefit from medical marijuana as follows: A physician and a patient must have a "bona fide" relationship before a physician may certify that a patient would benefit from medical marijuana; the physician is available or offers to provide follow-up care and treatment to the patient after he or she begins using medical marijuana; the physician is to maintain a record-keeping system for all patients certified by the registry; the physician is not to offer a discount to a patient who uses a particular dispensary or caregiver or diagnose a patient for a debilitating medical condition at a place where medical marijuana is sold or distributed; the physician is not to accept payment from any provider of medical marijuana or hold an economic interest in any marijuana dispensary; and the physician must hold a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine from an accredited medical school, have a valid, unrestricted license to practice medicine, and a valid, unrestricted U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) controlled substances registration.
This is a very necessary bill. Requests for medical marijuana authorization cards have increased by over 1000% in recent months. This area of the industry is fraught with corruption. I have heard so many stories that involve young adults going into a doctor and request a card because they have “chronic pain” and leave 5 minutes later with a recommendation. In some cases they don’t even see the doctor in person. This is not acceptable. I believe this bill will address many corruption issues.
Signed by the Governor 6/7/10