Medical cannabis, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty. (FE)

opioid abatement or reduction or treatment for opioid addiction; a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or the treatment of such a disease or condition that causes cachexia, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe and persistent muscle spasms; and any other medical condition or treatment DHS designates as a debilitating medical condition or treatment. DHS must issue a qualified applicant a registry identification card. DHS must keep registry information and applications confidential except for verifying status for law enforcement purposes. Under the bill, practitioners may not provide a written certification to obtain a registry identification card for himself or herself or any family member, and practitioners who provide written certifications for registry identification cards may not have any financial interest connected to a person or entity that grows, processes, or distributes cannabis.

The bill requires any person operating as a medical cannabis producer, processor, or dispensary to obtain a license from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. A producer is defined as a person who grows more than 12 cannabis plants. An applicant may not obtain a license, and DATCP must revoke a license, if the applicant or licensee is located within 500 feet of a school, distributes more than 12 cannabis plants and three ounces of cannabis leaves or flowers to any person, or possesses an excessive quantity of cannabis as determined by DATCP. The bill also requires DATCP to register laboratories to conduct testing on medical cannabis. A producer, processor, or dispensary may not have any financial interest in a laboratory, and a laboratory may not have any financial interest in a producer, processor, or dispensary. A license issued by DATCP under the bill does not expire unless revoked. An applicant for a license must pay an initial application fee of $250 and an annual fee of $5,000.

Under the bill, a licensed producer is prohibited from growing medical cannabis for personal, family, or household use and may distribute its medical cannabis only to a licensed processor. A licensed processor must send samples of the medical cannabis that it processes to a registered laboratory to test the THC concentration of the processor's products and test for the presence of certain contaminants. A licensed processor may distribute cannabis plants and processed cannabis leaves or flowers only to a licensed dispensary. A licensed dispensary may dispense medical cannabis only to a qualifying patient or caregiver who presents a valid registry identification card.

The bill authorizes DATCP to inspect, without prior notice, the premises and records of a licensee or an applicant. DATCP may also establish rules for administering and implementing the medical cannabis program as it relates to producers, processors, dispensaries, and laboratories. The bill requires DATCP to promulgate rules that are designed to promote and prioritize producers, processors, and dispensaries that are small, local operations.

Finally, the bill prohibits discrimination in employment and licensing against individuals who have valid certifications and registration cards based on their use or possession of medical cannabis off the employer's premises during nonworking hours, unless one of certain exceptions applies. The bill similarly provides that an employee who is terminated solely due to a positive drug test for cannabis components or metabolites or who violates the employer's policy concerning the use of cannabis is not disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance or worker's compensation benefits if the employee has a valid certification and registration card, unless 1) the employee uses or possesses medical cannabis on the employer's premises or during working hours; 2) the use impairs the individual's ability to undertake adequately the job-related responsibilities of that individual's employment; or 3) the action is necessary for the employer to avoid losing certain benefits under federal law.

The bill changes state law regarding THC. It does not affect federal law, which generally prohibits persons from manufacturing, delivering, or possessing THC and applies to both intrastate and interstate violations.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.