- About About
-
Medical
Medical
Medical Patient Resources Becoming a State-Authorized Patient Talking to your doctor The Medical Cannabis Patient’s Guide for U.S. Travel Patient's Guide to CBD Patient's Guide to Medical Cannabis Guide to Using Medical Cannabis Condition-based Booklets Growing Cannabis Cannabis Tincture, Salve, Butter and Oil Recipes Leaf411 Affordability Program Tracking Treatment & Gathering Data with Releaf App Medical Professional Resources CME for Medical Professionals Cannabis Safety Medical Cannabis Research
- Legal Legal
-
Advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy ASA Chapters Start an ASA Chapter Take Action Campaigns No Patient Left Behind End Pain, Not Lives Vote Medical Marijuana Medical Cannabis Advocate's Training Center Resources for Tabling and Lobby Days Strategic Planning Civics 101 Strategic Messaging Citizen Lobbying Participating in Implementation Movement Building Organizing a Demonstration Organizing Turnout for Civic Meetings Public Speaking Media 101 Patient's History of Medical Cannabis
-
Policy
Policy
Policy Model Federal Legislation Download Ending The Federal Conflict Public Comments by ASA Industry Standards Guide to Regulating Industry Standards Recognizing Science using the Data Quality Act Fact Sheet on ASA's Data Quality Act Petition to HHS Data Quality Act Briefs ASA Data Quality Act petition to HHS Information on Lawyers and Named Patients in the Data Quality Act Lawsuit Reports 2020 State of the States Medical Cannabis in America Medical Cannabis Access for Pain Treatment
- Join Join
-
-
California introduces bill to end organ transplant denials for medical marijuana patients
Oscar Pascual, San Francisco Chronicle
In a move to save the lives of many Californians, Assembly member Marc Levine has introduced a bill to prevent medical marijuana patients from being denied organ transplants based solely on their cannabis use.
Sponsored by Americans for Safe Access, Assembly Bill 258 states that “A hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement organization, or other person shall not determine the ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift based solely upon a potential recipient’s status as a qualified patient…or based solely on a positive test for the use of medical marijuana by a potential recipient who is a qualified patient.”
The bill would essentially establish the same protections currently in place for organ transplant candidates with mental or physical disabilities.
AB 258 comes at a time when many medical cannabis users are being denied new organs simply because of their medicinal use, such as cancer patient Norman Smith, who died in 2012 after being denied a liver transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
“Arcane public health policies view medical cannabis patients as drug abusers,” said Levine in a prepared statement. “Too often, patients are denied a life-saving organ transplant solely because they are prescribed medical cannabis. These patients have died after being dropped from the list, and many more are in jeopardy right now. This legislation will save lives by ensuring medical cannabis patients are not discriminated against in the organ transplant process.”
Share