Maine Legislature Approves Bill to Prevent Medical Marijuana Patients from Being Denied Organ Transplants
Maine’s full legislature has has passed legislation to protect medical cannabis patients from being denied organ transplants.
Maine’s LD 764 has now been approved by the state’s House of Representatives, and Senate, meaning it will soon be sent to Governor Paul LePage for consideration. The bill, filed by State Representative Deborah Sanderson (R) with eight bipartisan cosponsors, “prohibits the medical use of marijuana from being the sole disqualifying factor in determining a person’s suitability for receiving an anatomical gift.”
The full text of the one-page measure can be found below:
“Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows
Sec. 1.22 MRSA §2423-E, sub-§10 is enacted to read:
10.Receiving an anatomical gift. A qualifying patient’s medical use of marijuana may not be the sole disqualifying factor in determining the qualifying patient’s suitability for receiving an anatomical gift. For the purposes of this subsection, “anatomical gift” has the same meaning as in section 2942, subsection 2.”
If LD 764 becomes law, Maine would become the eight state to protect medical cannabis patients from being denied organ transplants based solely on their use of medical cannabis.