Requires certain health care facilities to allow a terminally ill patient’s use of medicinal cannabis within the health care facility, subject to certain restrictions.

Plain-English Summary

This bill, called the "Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act," would require certain health care facilities in Rhode Island to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis while staying at the facility. Currently, even patients who are legally registered to use medical cannabis in Rhode Island may be prohibited from using it once they are admitted to a hospital, nursing home, or similar care setting. This bill would change that by requiring those facilities to accommodate a terminally ill patient's legal use of medical cannabis.

The bill does include some restrictions, meaning facilities would likely have rules about how and where cannabis can be used — for example, to protect other patients or staff from secondhand smoke. The specific details of those restrictions would shape how the policy works in practice. The bill applies to certain types of health care facilities, though the exact list of covered facilities (such as hospitals, hospices, or long-term care homes) would be defined in the full bill language.

This bill primarily affects terminally ill patients who are enrolled in Rhode Island's medical cannabis program, their families, and the health care facilities that care for them. Patients near the end of life who rely on medical cannabis for pain relief or comfort would potentially be able to continue that treatment without interruption during a facility stay.

As of now, the bill has been introduced in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and referred to the House Health & Human Services Committee, which has recommended it be held for further study. It has not yet been passed into law.