Medical marijuana users may be ineligible for organ transplants, depending on the vote of the California Senate.
Assembly Bill 258, passed with a 52-8 vote on Thursday, now awaits the senate’s verdict. The bill, introduced by Assemby Member Marc Levine in February, explicitly states that hospitals or physicians cannot deny an organ transplant candidate solely on his or her usage of medical marijuana.
Physicians and surgeons would be required to do a case-by-case evaluation of each patient, rather than applying a blanket regulation on all medicinal marijuana users.
There are 21 transplant hospitals in California and four Organ Procurement Organizations that are authorized by Center for Medicare to receive or remove organs for transplant, according to the the bill.
A study published in 2011 by the University of Michigan Journal of Law reform found that OPOs and hospitals lack medical and policy foundation for transplants involving medical marijuana users and cigarette smokers.
According to bill, each individual hospital develops its own polices regarding a patient’s eligibility to receive a transplant. The United Network for Organ Sharing acts as a public-private agent for the United States transplant system. UNOS creates its own policies on distributing organs to eligible patients.