Section 4902A - [Effective Until 1/13/2025] Definitions [For application of this section, see 82 Del. Laws, c. 246, section 5]For purposes of this chapter:
(1) "Cardholder" means a qualifying patient or a designated caregiver who has been issued and possesses a valid registry identification card.(2) "Compassion center agent"' means a principal officer, board member, employee, or agent of a registered compassion center who is 21 years of age or older and has not been convicted of an excluded felony offense or drug misdemeanor within 5 years.(3) "Department" means the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services or its successor agency.(4) "Designated caregiver" means a person who:a. Is at least 21 years of age unless the person is the parent or legal guardian of a minor who is a qualifying patient;b. Has agreed to assist with a patient's medical use of marijuana;c. Has not been convicted of an excluded felony offense; andd. Assists no more than 5 qualifying patients with their medical use of marijuana.(5) "Enclosed, locked facility" means a greenhouse, building, or other enclosed area equipped with locks or other security devices that is on a registered compassion center's property and permits access only the compassion center agents working for the registered compassion center.(6) "Excluded felony offense" means:a. A violent crime defined in § 4201(c) of Title 11, that was classified as a felony in the jurisdiction where the person was convicted; orb. A violation of a state or federal controlled substance law that was classified as a felony in the jurisdiction where the person was convicted, not including: 1. An offense for which the sentence, including any term of probation, incarceration, or supervised release, was completed 10 or more years earlier; or2. An offense that consisted of conduct for which this chapter would likely have prevented a conviction, but the conduct either occurred prior to July 1, 2011, or was prosecuted by an authority other than the State of Delaware.(7) "Health-care practitioner" means an individual who is licensed and authorized to write medical orders under Title 24 as a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph. If the qualifying patient is younger than 18 years of age, the health-care practitioner must be a physician who is a pediatric neurologist, pediatric gastroenterologist, pediatric oncologist, pediatric psychiatrist, developmental pediatrician, or pediatric palliative care specialist.(8) "Intractable epilepsy" means an epileptic seizure disorder for which standard medical treatment does not prevent or significantly ameliorate recurring, uncontrolled seizures or for which standard medical treatment results in harmful side effects.(9) "Labor organization" means a bona fide labor organization of any kind, including an employee representation committee, group, or association, in which employees participate and which exists and is constituted for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining or otherwise dealing with compassion center or safety compliance facility employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, terms or conditions of employment, including wages and rates of pay, or other mutual aid or protection in connection with employment, and is characterized by 1 or more of the following:a. Being a party to 1 or more executed collective bargaining agreements with medical or personal use marijuana employers, in this State or another state.b. Having a written constitution or bylaws in the 3 immediately preceding years.c. Filing the annual financial report required of labor organizations under subsection (b) of 29 U.S.C. § 431 or having at least 1 audited financial report in the 3 immediately preceding years.d. Being affiliated with any regional or national association of unions, including state and federal labor councils.e. Being a member of a national labor organization that has at least 500 general members in a majority of the 50 states of the United States.(10) "Labor peace agreement" means an agreement between a labor organization and a registered compassion center or registered safety compliance facility employer that, at a minimum, includes all of the following:a. Prohibits the labor organization and members from engaging in picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, or any other economic interference with the business of the employer.b. Prohibits the employer from disrupting efforts by the labor organization to communicate with and attempt to organize and represent employees.c. Any change in the oil formulation which is made by the Department.(11) "Marijuana" has the meaning given that term in § 4701(23) of this title.(12) "Medical condition" means 1 or more of the following: a. Terminal illness, cancer, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, decompensated cirrhosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, agitation of Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, intractable epilepsy, seizure disorder, glaucoma, chronic debilitating migraines, new daily persistent headache, or the treatment of these conditions.b. A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces 1 or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe, debilitating pain that has not responded to previously prescribed medication or surgical measures for more than 3 months or for which other treatment options produced serious side effects; intractable nausea; seizures; severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis.c. Any other diagnosed medical condition or disease for which a health-care practitioner determines a patient would receive palliative or therapeutic benefit from the use of medical marijuana.(13) "Medical marijuana oil" means any of the following: a. "Cannabidiol oil" which is a processed Cannabis plant extract that contains at least 15% cannabidiol but no more than 7% tetrahydrocannabinol, or a dilution of the resin of the Cannabis plant that contains at least 50 milligrams of cannabidiol per milliliter but not more than 7% tetrahydrocannabinol.b. "THC-A oil" which is a processed Cannabis plant extract that contains at least 15% tetrahydrocannabinol acid but not more than 7% tetrahydrocannabinol, or a dilution of the resin of the Cannabis plant that contains at least 50 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol acid per milliliter but not more than 7% tetrahydrocannabinol.c. Any change in the oil formulation which is made by the Department based upon the recommendation of the Medical Marijuana Act Oversight Committee.(14) "Medical use" means the acquisition; administration; delivery; possession; transportation; transfer; transportation; or use of marijuana or paraphernalia relating to the administration of marijuana to treat or alleviate a registered qualifying patient's medical condition or symptoms associated with the patient's medical condition. (15) "Physician'' means a properly licensed physician subject to Chapter 17 of Title 24 except as otherwise provided in this paragraph. . If the qualifying patient is younger than 18 years of age, the physician must be a pediatric neurologist, pediatric gastroenterologist, pediatric oncologist or pediatric palliative care specialist.(16) "Qualifying patient" means an individual who meets the qualifications to receive a registry identification card under this chapter.(17) "Registered compassion center" means a not-for-profit entity registered pursuant to § 4914A of this title that acquires, possesses, cultivates, manufactures, delivers, transfers, transports, sells, supplies, or dispenses marijuana, paraphernalia, or related supplies and educational materials to registered qualifying patients who have designated the dispenser to cultivate marijuana for their medical use and the registered designated caregivers of these patients.(18) "Registered safety compliance facility" means a nonprofit entity registered under § 4915A of this title by the Department to provide 1 or more of the following services: testing marijuana produced for medical use or under Chapter 13 of Title 4 for potency and contaminants; and training cardholders, compassion center agents, and owners and employees of entities operating under Chapter 13 of Title 4. The training may include, but need not be limited to, information related to 1 or more of the following: a. The safe and efficient cultivation, harvesting, packaging, labeling, and distribution of marijuana;b. Security and inventory accountability procedures; andc. Up-to-date scientific and medical research findings related to medical marijuana.(19) "Registry identification card" means a document issued by the Department that identifies a person as 1 of the following: a. A registered qualifying adult patient.b. A registered designated caregiver for a qualifying adult patient.c. A registered designated caregiver for a pediatric patient. (20) "Safety compliance facility agent" means a principal officer, board member, employee, or agent of a registered safety compliance facility who is 21 years of age or older and has not been convicted of an excluded felony offense.(21) "Terminal illness" means any disease, illness or condition sustained by any human being: a. For which there is no reasonable medical expectation of recovery;b. Which, as a medical probability, will result in the death of such human being regardless of the use or discontinuance of medical treatment implemented for the purpose of sustaining life or the life processes; andc. As a result of which, the human being's health-care practitioner would not be surprised if death were to occur within 12 months.(22) "Usable marijuana" means the dried leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant and any mixture or preparation of those dried leaves and flowers, including but not limited to tinctures, ointments, other preparations including medical marijuana oil, but does not include the seeds, stalks, and roots of the plant. It does not include the weight of any non-marijuana ingredients combined with marijuana, such as ingredients added to prepare a topical administration, food, or drink.(23) "Verification system" means a phone or Web-based system that is available to law-enforcement personnel and compassion center agents on a 24-hour basis for verification of registry identification cards.(24) "Written certification'' means a document dated and signed by a health-care practitioner, stating that in the health-care practitioner's professional opinion the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the medical use of marijuana to treat or alleviate the patient's medical condition or symptoms associated with the medical condition. A written certification shall be made only in the course of a bona fide healthcare practitioner-patient relationship where the qualifying patient is under the health-care practitioner's care for the patient's primary care or for the patient's medical condition after the health-care practitioner has completed an assessment of the qualifying patient's medical history and current medical condition. The bona fide health-care practitioner-patient relationship may not be limited to authorization for the patient to use medical marijuana or consultation for that purpose. The written certification must specify the qualifying patient's medical condition, and, if applicable, that the medical condition is a terminal illness.Amended by Laws 2023, ch. 264,s 1, eff. 5/28/2024.Amended by Laws 2023 , ch. 24, s 2.Amended by Laws 2021 , ch. 463, s 1, eff. 10/14/2022.Amended by Laws 2021 , ch. 445, s 1, eff. 10/7/2022.Amended by Laws 2021 , ch. 48, s 2, eff. 6/15/2021.Amended by Laws 2019 , ch. 246, s 1, eff. 7/7/2020.Amended by Laws 2019 , ch. 213, s 1, eff. 9/10/2019.Amended by Laws 2019 , ch. 43, s 1, eff. 6/13/2019.Amended by Laws 2017 , ch. 383, s 1, eff. 8/28/2018.Amended by Laws 2017 , ch. 61, s 1, eff. 7/12/2017.Amended by Laws 2015 , ch. 406, s 1, eff. 11/29/2016.Amended by Laws 2015 , ch. 39, s 1, eff. 6/23/2015. 78 Del. Laws, c. 23, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.;Section 15 of the enacting legislation provides that the 2023 amendment by Act Chapter 24 to this section takes effect upon the later of the following: (a) Publication in the Register of Regulations of a notice by the Controller General that the funds required to implement this Act have been appropriated. (b) Upon enactment.This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.