By Duke London
If a new proposal is approved, a hospital in northern California may be the first in the nation to openly allow medical marijuana consumption.
Dr. Larry Bedard, a retired emergency room physician that now serves on the Healthcare District Board of Marin General Hospital, wants Marin to be the first acute-care facility in America to allow patients to use marijuana on-site. According to Dr. Bedard, marijuana is currently the only legally prescribed drug that patients cannot openly use while admitted to a hospital.
“I know that it happens that it’s being used in the hospital, but it’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” Bedard said. Adding, “It’s kind of wink-and-nod medicine.”
Dr. Larry Bedard outside Marin General. Photo Courtesy of Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The Chronicle
During Tuesday’s Marin Healthcare District meeting, Bedard presented a new resolution to the board that aimed to bring medical marijuana out of the dark. If the board approves Bedard’s proposal, the hospital administrative and medical teams will begin with researching the possible clinical and legal ramifications of allowing marijuana consumption by patients, and then ultimately reporting their findings to the board.
Bedard initially planned to propose the measure last month but was discouraged by the DEA’s decision to keep cannabis listed as a Schedule 1 drug.
While there is an amendment that protects patients, doctors, and hospitals from federal prosecution should they be in compliance with their local state’s cannabis laws, Bedard didn’t want to push too hard against the DEA, who could levy sanctions against the hospital that would prove catastrophic.
“If a hospital is convicted of a federal drug crime, it can no longer receive payment for treating Medicare or Medi-Cal patients,” California Hospital Association Spokeswoman Jan Emerson-Shea said. “If a hospital pharmacy loses its DEA registration, the hospital must close — a hospital is not allowed to legally operate without a pharmacy.”
Whether or not Bedard’s proposal goes through, there are still major changes coming to California’s medical marijuana industry. There has been some serious growing pains since California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, but new laws that begin in 2018 aim to rectify that. The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which Governor Jerry Brown signed in October of last year, will streamline and organize the medical marijuana industry in California.
From the California chapter of NORML:
The new Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act consists of three separate bills which were enacted together on Sept 11, 2015. The bill creates a comprehensive state licensing system for the commercial cultivation, manufacture, retail sale, transport, distribution, delivery, and testing of medical cannabis. All licenses must also be approved by local governments.
The law went into effect on January 1, 2016; however, the state has said it will need until January 2018 to set up the necessary agencies, information systems, and regulations to actually begin issuing licenses. In the interim, local governments may choose to adopt new ordinances to permit or license local businesses in preparation for state licensing. Facilities currently operating in accordance with state and local laws may continue to do so until such time as their license applications are approved or denied. In the meantime, prospective applicants are strongly advised to apply to the state Board of Equalization for a Resale Permit, and to prepare for seeking approval from their local governments.
