BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 266|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 266
Author: Bonta (D), et al.
Amended: 9/1/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE: 8-1, 7/15/15
AYES: Hernandez, Hall, Mitchell, Monning, Nielsen, Pan, Roth,
Wolk
NOES: Nguyen
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 7/15/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Moorlach
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nguyen, Lara, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 62-8, 6/4/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Medical cannabis
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill specifies that it is the intent of the
Legislature to enact legislation that would enact a
comprehensive regulatory framework for medical marijuana in the
state.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1) Requires the Medical Board of California (MBC) within the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to license, certify,
and regulate physician and surgeons (physician) under the
Medical Practice Act. Requires the MBC to take action
against a physician who is charged with unprofessional
conduct, as specified. Requires the MBC to prioritize its
investigative and prosecutorial resources to ensure that
physicians representing the greatest threat of harm are
identified and disciplined expeditiously, including those
with repeated acts of excessive prescribing, furnishing, or
administering of controlled substances, or repeated acts of
prescribing, dispensing, or furnishing of controlled
substances without a good faith prior examination of the
patient and medical reason therefor.
2) Prohibits physicians from being punished or denied any
right or privilege for having recommended medical
marijuana/medical cannabis (MM) to a patient.
3) Specifies that prescribing, dispensing, or furnishing
dangerous drugs without an appropriate prior examination and
a medical indication, by a physician, constitutes
unprofessional conduct.
4) Specifies that the employing, directly or indirectly, the
aiding, or the abetting of any unlicensed person or any
suspended, revoked, or unlicensed practitioner to engage in
the practice of medicine or any other mode of treating the
sick or afflicted, which requires a license to practice,
constitutes unprofessional conduct.
5) Prohibits criminal prosecution, pursuant to the
Compassionate Use Act (CUA) of 1996, also known as
Proposition 215, of a "qualified patient," as defined, with
specified illnesses or a patient's "primary caregiver," as
defined, for the possession or cultivation of MM upon the
written or oral recommendation or approval of an "attending
physician," as defined. Encourages federal and state
governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and
affordable distribution of MM to those who need it.
Specifies that existing law related to MM is not to be
construed to supersede legislation prohibiting conduct that
endangers others or to condone the diversion of MM for
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nonmedical purposes.
6) Defines "qualified patient" as a person who is entitled to
the protections in the CUA but who does not have a MM
identification card (MMIC). Defines "primary caregiver" as
an individual designated by a qualified patient who has
consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health,
or safety of that person. Defines "attending physician" as
an individual who possesses a license in good standing to
practice medicine or osteopathy issued by the MBC or the
Osteopathic Medical Board of California and who has taken
responsibility for an aspect of the medical care, treatment,
diagnosis, counseling, or referral of a patient and who has
conducted an appropriate medical examination, as specified,
and determines if MM is appropriate.
7) Prohibits qualified patients and primary caregivers with
MMICs who associate within the state in order to, among
other activities, possess, cultivate, process, and transport
MM collectively or cooperatively from, solely on that basis,
being subject to state criminal sanctions under state laws
that prohibit those activities otherwise.
8) Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
establish and maintain a voluntary Medical Marijuana Program
(MMP) by which patients can apply for MMICs when deemed
appropriate by his or her attending physician. Requires
county health departments to issue MMICs, as specified, to
patients and primary caregivers who voluntarily register for
the MMP. Specifies that MMICs are valid for one year and may
be renewed annually. Requires DPH to develop a system by
which state and local law enforcement officers can
immediately verify the MMIC's validity. Prohibits state or
local law enforcement officers from refusing to accept MMICs
unless there is reasonable cause to believe that the MMIC is
being used fraudulently or its information is false or
fraudulent.
9) Makes it a misdemeanor offense to, among other things,
fraudulently represent a medical condition or provide any
material misinformation to a physician, health department
designee, or to law enforcement, for the purpose of falsely
obtaining MMICs; fraudulently use any person's MMIC in order
to acquire, possess, cultivate, transport, use, produce, or
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distribute MM; counterfeit, tamper with, or fraudulently
produce MMICs; and breach any confidentiality requirements
pertaining to the MMIC program.
10) Requires a person who seeks an MMIC to pay a fee and
provide to the county health department a name, proof of
residency, written physician's recommendation, physician's
name and contact information, the primary caregiver's name
and duties, and the qualified patient's and primary
caregiver's government-issued photo ID.
11) Prohibits anything in the MMP from preventing a city or
other local governing body from adopting local ordinances
that regulate the location, operation, or establishment of a
MM cooperative or collective, or prohibiting one from
operating within its borders; enforcing local ordinances for
civil or criminal purposes; or enacting other laws
consistent with the MMP.
12) Designates marijuana as a hallucinogenic substance in
Schedule I of the California Uniform Controlled Substances
Act.
13) States legislative intent for the state to commission
objective scientific research by the University of
California (UC), and if the Regents of the UC accept the
responsibility, the UC is required to create the California
Marijuana Research Program (CMRP) to develop and conduct
studies intended to ascertain the general medical safety and
efficacy of MM and to develop guidelines for the appropriate
administration and use of MM; requires the CMRP to use a
peer review process, as specified, to guard against funding
research that is biased; requires the CMRP to report to the
Legislature, as specified; and requires the President of the
UC to appoint a multidisciplinary Scientific Advisory
Council to provide policy guidance.
This bill:
1) Specifies that it is the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation that would enact a comprehensive
regulatory framework for medical marijuana in the state.
2) Specifies that this bill will become operative only if
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Senate Bill 643 (McGuire) of the 2015-16 Regular Session is
enacted and becomes operative.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 62-8, 6/4/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,
Burke, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Cooper, Gallagher,
Gatto, Irwin
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Campos, Dahle, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Harper, Jones, Kim, Obernolte, Ridley-Thomas
Prepared by:Reyes Diaz / HEALTH /
9/1/15 20:22:38
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