Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation today, Assembly Bill 258, to allow medical marijuana patients to receive organ transplants.
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The law takes effect January 1, 2016.
Hospitals in California and elsewhere have denied patients from receiving organ transplants exclusively based on their status as medicinal marijuana consumers. On April 30th the California Assembly voted in favor of the bill by a margin of 52-8. “Arcane public health policies treat medical cannabis patients as drug abusers”, Levine wrote in a press release. “As a result patients are often denied a life-saving organ transplant exclusively because they are prescribed medical cannabis”.
“AB 258’s passage represents a big victory in the fight to end discrimination against medical cannabis patients in California”, said Steph Sherer ASA’s Executive Director. A 2008 study in the American Journal of Transplantation reportedly found that medical marijuana patients who received liver transplants were not subject to an increased risk of mortality. Doctors also frequently recommend medical marijuana to counteract harsh side effects from some pharmaceutical treatments.
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Levine’s legislation comes as great news to the massive number of Californians treating their illness or disorders with medical marijuana. It would also provide statewide regulations to ensure the quality of medical cannabis and edibles. AB 305 would toughen laws for hash lab operators who start residential fires or injure people through negligence, though the legislation appears to have stalled in committee.
