General Assembly Raised Bill No. 360
February Session, 2020 LCO No. 2185
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
AN ACT WAIVING CERTAIN MEDICAL MARIJUANA FEES FOR
VETERANS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 21a-408d of the general statutes is
2 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
3 2020):
4 (a) Each qualifying patient who is issued a written certification for the
5 palliative use of marijuana under subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of
6 section 21a-408a, and the primary caregiver of such qualifying patient,
7 shall register with the Department of Consumer Protection. Such
8 registration shall be effective from the date the Department of
9 Consumer Protection issues a certificate of registration until the
10 expiration of the written certification issued by the physician or
11 advanced practice registered nurse. The qualifying patient and the
12 primary caregiver shall provide sufficient identifying information, as
13 determined by the department, to establish the personal identity of the
14 qualifying patient and the primary caregiver. If the qualifying patient is
15 under eighteen years of age and not an emancipated minor, the
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16 custodial parent, guardian or other person having legal custody of the
17 qualifying patient shall also provide a letter from both the qualifying
18 patient's primary care provider and a physician who is board certified
19 in an area of medicine involved in the treatment of the debilitating
20 condition for which the qualifying patient was certified that confirms
21 that the palliative use of marijuana is in the best interest of the qualifying
22 patient. A physician may issue a written certification for the palliative
23 use of marijuana by a qualifying patient who is under eighteen years of
24 age, provided such written certification shall not be for marijuana in a
25 dosage form that requires that the marijuana be smoked, inhaled or
26 vaporized. The qualifying patient or the primary caregiver shall report
27 any change in the identifying information to the department not later
28 than five business days after such change. The department shall issue a
29 registration certificate to the qualifying patient and to the primary
30 caregiver and may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed twenty-five
31 dollars, for each registration certificate issued under this subsection,
32 except that no such fee shall be charged to a qualifying patient who is a
33 veteran, as defined in section 27-103. Any registration fees collected by
34 the department under this subsection shall be paid to the State Treasurer
35 and credited to the General Fund.
36 Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 21a-408m of the general statutes is
37 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
38 2020):
39 (b) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall adopt
40 regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to establish a reasonable fee
41 to be collected from each qualifying patient to whom a written
42 certification for the palliative use of marijuana is issued under
43 subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 21a-408a, for the purpose of
44 offsetting the direct and indirect costs of administering the provisions
45 of sections 21a-408 to 21a-408n, inclusive, except that no such fee shall
46 be charged to a qualifying patient who is a veteran, as defined in section
47 27-103. The commissioner shall collect such fee at the time the qualifying
48 patient registers with the Department of Consumer Protection under
49 subsection (a) of section 21a-408d, as amended by this act. Such fee shall
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50 be in addition to any registration fee that may be charged under said
51 subsection. The fees required to be collected by the commissioner from
52 qualifying patients under this subsection shall be paid to the State
53 Treasurer and credited to the General Fund.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2020 21a-408d(a)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2020 21a-408m(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To exempt veterans from the registration and administration fees for
medical marijuana.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
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