Permitting the medical use of cannabis by qualifying patients in specified health care facilities.

Medical cannabis access expands with care limits

Beginning January 1, 2027, covered Washington care facilities must allow medical cannabis for qualifying patients with terminal conditions. Covered facilities are licensed hospitals, nursing homes, and hospice care centers, except nursing homes operated by residential habilitation centers. Hospitals' emergency departments, patients receiving emergency services, and patients not admitted for inpatient care are excluded. Facilities must adopt policies banning smoking, vaping, and sharing cannabis with other patients or visitors. Patients must provide a copy of a valid authorization, and facilities must record cannabis use in their medical records. The patient or designated provider must acquire, retrieve, administer, and remove the cannabis; facility staff cannot administer or retrieve it. Cannabis must always stay in a locked container in the patient's room, another designated area, or with the designated provider. Any remaining cannabis must be removed at discharge. If the patient cannot remove it and no designated provider is available, the facility must follow its health care waste policy. Compliance is not a condition for getting, keeping, or renewing a facility license. Facilities may pause compliance after related federal enforcement action or rules or notices prohibiting facility use from the Justice Department or Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The pause lasts until the agency says compliance may resume. Cannabis's Schedule I status or other existing federal restrictions alone do not justify denying use.