HB 5242

General Assembly  Raised Bill No. 5242
  February Session, 2026  LCO No. 1586
 Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
 Introduced by:
   (PH)
 AN ACT REQUIRING CERTAIN HEALTH CARE FACILITIES TO
 ALLOW TERMINALLY ILL QUALIFYING PATIENTS TO USE
 CANNABIS.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
1Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section:
2      (1) "Cannabis" means marijuana, as defined in section 21a-240 of the
3    general statutes;
4      (2) "Health care facility" means a (A) hospital or nursing home, as
5    such terms are defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, or (B)
6    hospice inpatient facility or short-term hospital special hospice, licensed
7    pursuant to chapter 368v of the general statutes;
8      (3) "Qualifying patient" means a "qualifying patient", as defined in
9   section 21a-408 of the general statutes, who (A) has obtained a valid
10   certificate of registration pursuant to subsection (a) of section 21a-408d
11   of the general statutes, and (B) is terminally ill; and
12      (4) "Terminally ill" means a medical condition resulting in a
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13 prognosis of life of one year or less, if the disease follows its natural
14 course, as certified in writing, by a qualifying patient's attending
15 physician, as defined in section 19a-570 of the general statutes.
16    (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, health care
17 facility shall allow a qualifying patient to use cannabis within the health
18 care facility and shall:
19   (1) Prohibit smoking or vaping as methods to use cannabis;
20    (2) Include the use of cannabis within a qualifying patient's medical
21 records;
22    (3) Require a qualifying patient to provide a copy of a qualifying
23 patient's certificate of registration, issued pursuant to subsection (a) of
24 section 21a-408d of the general statutes;
25    (4) Reasonably restrict the manner in which a qualifying patient
26 stores and uses cannabis, including, but not limited to, requiring the
27 cannabis to be stored in a locked container, to ensure the safety of other
28 patients, guests and employees of the health care facility, in compliance
29 with other provisions of the general statutes and the safe operations of
30 the health care facility; and
31   (5) Develop and disseminate written guidelines for the use of
32 cannabis by qualifying patients within the health care facility.
33   (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a qualifying
34 patient receiving emergency care shall not be permitted to use cannabis
35 while the qualifying patient is receiving emergency care.
36    (d) (1) If a federal regulatory agency, the United States Department
37 of Justice or the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
38 takes one of the following actions, a health care facility may suspend
39 compliance with the provisions of this section until the regulatory
40 agency, the United States Department of Justice or the federal Centers
41 for Medicare and Medicaid Services notifies the health care facility that
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42 it may resume permitting qualifying patients' use of cannabis within the
43 facility:
44    (A) A federal regulatory agency or the United States Department of
45 Justice initiates enforcement action against a health care facility related
46 to the facility's compliance with the provisions of this section.
47    (B) A federal regulatory agency, the United States Department of
48 Justice or the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issues
49 a rule or otherwise provides notification to the health care facility that
50 expressly prohibits the use of cannabis in health care facilities or
51 otherwise prohibits compliance with the provisions of this section.
52    (2) The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to permit
53 a health care facility to prohibit qualifying patient use of cannabis due
54 solely to the fact that cannabis is a schedule I controlled substance
55 pursuant to the federal Controlled Substances Act, or other federal
56 constraints on the use of cannabis that were in existence prior to October
57 1, 2026.
58    Sec. 2. Section 21a-422m of the general statutes is repealed and the
59 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026):
60    As used in this section, "hospital" has the same meaning as provided
61 in section 19a-490 and "cannabis" has the same meaning as provided in
62 section 21a-420. [No] Except as provided in section 1 of this act, no
63 hospital shall be required to allow a patient to use cannabis while at such
64 hospital. A hospital may have a policy that sets forth restrictions
65 patients shall follow regarding cannabis use.
  This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
  sections:
  Section 1     October 1, 2026  New section
  Sec. 2        October 1, 2026  21a-422m
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Statement of Purpose:
To require certain health care facilities to allow terminally ill qualifying
patients to use 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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