BILL NUMBER: SB 1494 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 1, 2004
PASSED THE SENATE MARCH 30, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Senator Vasconcellos
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Leno)
FEBRUARY 19, 2004
An act to amend Sections 11362.7 and 11362.77 of the Health and
Safety Code, relating to medical marijuana.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1494, Vasconcellos. Medical marijuana.
The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 provides that a patient or a
patient's primary caregiver who possesses or cultivates marijuana for
personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral
recommendation or approval of a physician is not subject to
conviction for offenses relating to possession and cultivation of
marijuana.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Services to
establish and maintain a voluntary program for the issuance of
identification cards to patients qualified to use marijuana for their
personal medical purposes, and to their primary caregivers, if any.
Existing law establishes limits on the amount of marijuana that a
qualified patient or primary caregiver may possess, unless a doctor
recommends that those amounts do not meet the patient's needs.
Existing law provides that counties and cities may retain or enact
medical marijuana guidelines allowing persons with an identification
card to exceed these limits.
This bill would recast these provisions relating to the amount of
marijuana that may be possessed for personal medical purposes. The
bill, instead, would provide that a qualified patient, person with an
identification card, or any designated primary caregiver may possess
any amount of marijuana consistent with the medical needs of that
qualified patient or person with an identification card. The bill
would provide that a person with an identification card or a
designated primary caregiver with an identification card is not
subject to arrest for possessing or maintaining certain amounts of
marijuana. The bill would provide that this provision is not
intended to affect any city or county guidelines to the extent that
the amounts contained in those guidelines exceed the quantities set
forth in the bill.
Existing law, for purposes of the voluntary identification card
program, defines a primary caregiver as an individual who has been
designated as a primary caregiver by more than one qualified patient
or person with an identification card, if every qualified patient or
person with an identification card who has designated that individual
as a primary caregiver resides in the same city or county as the
primary caregiver. Existing law provides that an individual who has
been designated as a primary caregiver by a qualified patient or
person with an identification card who resides in a city or county
other than that of the primary caregiver may be a designated primary
caregiver under these provisions if the individual has not been
designated as a primary caregiver by any other qualified patient or
person with an identification card.
This bill would redefine a primary caregiver to include an
individual who has been designated as a primary caregiver by more
than one qualified patient or person with an identification card, if
every qualified patient or person with an identification card who has
designated that individual as a primary caregiver resides in the
same county as the primary caregiver or resides 25 miles or less from
the primary caregiver. It would provide that an individual may also
be designated as a primary caregiver by a qualified patient or
person with an identification card who resides in a county other than
that of the primary caregiver or resides more than 25 miles from the
primary caregiver only if the individual has not been designated as
a primary caregiver by any other qualified patient or person with an
identification card.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
11362.7. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) "Attending physician" means an individual who possesses a
license in good standing to practice medicine or osteopathy issued by
the Medical Board of California 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 a medical examination of that patient
before recording in the patient's medical record the physician's
assessment of whether the patient has a serious medical condition and
whether the medical use of marijuana is appropriate.
(b) "Department" means the State Department of Health Services.
(c) "Person with an identification card" means an individual who
is a qualified patient who has applied for and received a valid
identification card pursuant to this article.
(d) "Primary caregiver" means the individual, designated by a
qualified patient or by a person with an identification card, who has
consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or
safety of that patient or person, and may include any of the
following:
(1) In any case in which a qualified patient or person with an
identification card receives medical care or supportive services, or
both, from a clinic licensed pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 1200) of Division 2, a health care facility licensed pursuant
to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2, a
residential care facility for persons with chronic life-threatening
illness licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.01 (commencing with Section
1568.01) of Division 2, a residential care facility for the elderly
licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section 1569) of
Division 2, a hospice, or a home health agency licensed pursuant to
Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 1725) of Division 2, the owner or
operator, or no more than three employees who are designated by the
owner or operator, of the clinic, facility, hospice, or home health
agency, if designated as a primary caregiver by that qualified
patient or person with an identification card.
(2) An individual who has been designated as a primary caregiver
by more than one qualified patient or person with an identification
card, if every qualified patient or person with an identification
card who has designated that individual as a primary caregiver
resides in the same county as the primary caregiver or resides 25
miles or less from the primary caregiver.
(3) An individual who has been designated as a primary caregiver
by a qualified patient or person with an identification card who
resides in a county other than that of the primary caregiver or
resides more than 25 miles from the primary caregiver, if the
individual has not been designated as a primary caregiver by any
other qualified patient or person with an identification card.
(e) A primary caregiver shall be at least 18 years of age, unless
the primary caregiver is the parent of a minor child who is a
qualified patient or a person with an identification card or the
primary caregiver is a person otherwise entitled to make medical
decisions under state law pursuant to Sections 6922, 7002, 7050, or
7120 of the Family Code.
(f) "Qualified patient" means a person who is entitled to the
protections of Section 11362.5, but who does not have an
identification card issued pursuant to this article.
(g) "Identification card" means a document issued by the State
Department of Health Services that identifies a person authorized to
engage in the medical use of marijuana and the person's designated
primary caregiver, if any.
(h) "Serious medical condition" means all of the following medical
conditions:
(1) Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
(2) Anorexia.
(3) Arthritis.
(4) Cachexia.
(5) Cancer.
(6) Chronic pain.
(7) Glaucoma.
(8) Migraine.
(9) Persistent muscle spasms, including, but not limited to,
spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.
(10) Seizures, including, but not limited to, seizures associated
with epilepsy.
(11) Severe nausea.
(12) Any other chronic or persistent medical symptom that does
either of the following:
(A) Substantially limits the ability of the person to conduct one
or more major life activities as defined in the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336).
(B) If not alleviated, may cause serious harm to the patient's
safety or physical or mental health.
(i) "Written documentation" means accurate reproductions of those
portions of a patient's medical records that have been created by the
attending physician, that contain the information required by
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 11362.715, and that the
patient may submit to a county health department or the county's
designee as part of an application for an identification card.
SEC. 2. Section 11362.77 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
11362.77. (a) A qualified patient, a person with an
identification card, or any designated primary caregiver may possess
any amount of marijuana consistent with the medical needs of that
qualified patient or person with an identification card.
(b) (1) A person with an identification card or a primary
caregiver with an identification card shall not be subject to arrest
for possessing eight ounces or less of dried marijuana per person
with an identification card, and maintaining six or fewer mature or
12 or fewer immature marijuana plants per person with an
identification card.
(2) Nothing in this section is intended to affect any city or
county guidelines to the extent that the amounts contained in those
guidelines exceed the quantities set forth in paragraph (1).
(c) If a physician determines that the quantities specified in
subdivision (b) do not meet the medical needs of the person with an
identification card, that person or that person's primary caregiver
with an identification card may possess an amount of marijuana
consistent with those medical needs and shall not be subject to
arrest for possessing that amount.
(d) Only the dried mature processed flowers of female cannabis
plant or the plant conversion shall be considered when determining
allowable quantities of marijuana under this section.
(e) The Attorney General may recommend modifications to the
possession or cultivation limits set forth in this section. These
recommendations, if any, shall be made to the Legislature no later
than December 1, 2005, and may be made only after public comment and
consultation with interested organizations, including, but not
limited to, patients, health care professionals, researchers, law
enforcement, and local governments. Any recommended modification
shall be consistent with the intent of this article and shall be
based on currently available scientific research.