Alabama Administrative Code › Title 540 - ALABAMA BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS › Chapter 540-X-25 - PHYSICIAN RECOMMENDATION OF THE USE OF MEDICAL CANNABIS › Section 540-X-25-.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
The following definitions shall apply to the rules in this
				chapter:
(1) AMCC. The Alabama Medical
			 Cannabis Commission created pursuant to
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §
								20-2A-20.
(2) BOARD. The Alabama State Board of Medical
			 Examiners.
(3) CANNABIS. All parts
			 of any plant of the genus cannabis, excluding industrial hemp or hemp regulated
			 under
Code of Ala. 1975
, §§
								2-8-380, et. seq., whether growing
			 or not, including the seeds, extractions of any kind from any part of the
			 plant, and every compound, derivative, mixture, product, or preparation of the
			 plant.
(4) CERTIFY. To confirm or
			 diagnose through a medical examination in compliance with these rules that a
			 patient has a qualifying medical condition that conventional medical treatment
			 or therapy has failed to treat or for which medical cannabis is indicated by
			 the current standard of care.
(5)
			 CHRONIC PAIN. A state in which pain persists beyond the usual course of an
			 acute disease or healing of an injury (e.g., more than three (3) months), and
			 which may or may not be associated with an acute or chronic pathological
			 process that causes continuous or intermittent pain over a period of months or
			 years.
(6) CULTIVATOR. An entity
			 licensed by the Department of Agriculture and Industries or the AMCC under
Code of Ala. 1975
, §
								20-2A-62 authorized to grow
			 cannabis pursuant to
Code of Ala. 1975
, §§
								20-2A-1, et. seq.
(7) DAILY DOSAGE. The total amount of one or
			 more cannabis derivatives, including, but not limited to, cannabidiol and
			 tetrahydrocannabinol, which may be present in a medical cannabis product that
			 may be ingested by a registered qualified patient during a 24-hour period, as
			 determined by a registered certifying physician.
(8) DISPENSARY. An entity licensed by the
			 AMCC under
Code of Ala. 1975
, §§
								20-2A-64 authorized to dispense
			 and sell medical cannabis at dispensing sites to registered qualified patients
			 and registered caregivers pursuant to
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §§
								20-2A-1, et. seq.
(9) DISPENSING SITE. A site operated by a
			 dispensary licensee or an integrated facility licensee.
(10) ECONOMIC INTEREST. The rights to either
			 the capital or profit interests of an applicant or licensee or, if the
			 applicant or licensee is a corporation, the rights to some portion of all
			 classes of outstanding stock in the corporation.
(11) INTEGRATED FACILITY. An entity licensed
			 under Section
			 20-2A-67 authorized to perform the
			 functions of a cultivator, processor, secure transporter, and dispensary
			 pursuant to Article 4.
(12)
			 INTRACTABLE PAIN. Chronic pain for which, in the generally accepted course of
			 medical practice, the cause cannot be removed or otherwise treated.
(13) LICENSEE OF THE AMCC. Any person,
			 business, or other entity possessing, or seeking to obtain, a license issued by
			 the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission; including, but not limited to, a
			 cultivator, dispensary, integrated facility, processor, or secure
			 transporter.
(14) MEDICAL CANNABIS.
			 A medical grade product that contains a derivative of cannabis for medical use
			 by a registered qualified patient and is in a form set forth in
Code of Ala. 1975
, §
								20-2A-3(14) a.
			 and shall not include any of the forms prohibited by
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §
								20-2A-3(14)
			 b.
(15) MEDICAL CANNABIS CARD. A
			 valid card issued pursuant to
Code of Ala. 1975
,
			 §
								20-2A-35.
(16) MEDICAL USE or USE OF MEDICAL CANNABIS
			 or USE MEDICAL CANNABIS. The acquisition, possession, use, delivery, transfer,
			 or administration of medical cannabis authorized by
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §§
								20-2A-1, et. seq. These terms do
			 not include possession, use, or administration of cannabis that was not
			 purchased or acquired from a licensed dispensary.
(17) PATIENT REGISTRY. The Alabama Medical
			 Cannabis Patient Registry System that is an electronic integrated system that
			 tracks physician certifications, patient registrations, medical cannabis cards,
			 the daily dosage and type of medical cannabis recommended to qualified patients
			 by registered certifying physicians, and the dates of sale, amounts, and types
			 of medical cannabis that were purchased by registered qualified patients at
			 licensed dispensaries.
(18) PATIENT
			 CAPABLE OF CONCEPTION. A patient possessing female reproductive organs who is
			 between eleven (11) and fifty (50) years of age, excluding any patient who the
			 registered certifying physician has confirmed to have had a hysterectomy or
			 tubal ligation.
(19) PHYSICIAN
			 CERTIFICATION. A registered certifying physician's authorization for a
			 registered qualified patient to use medical cannabis.
(20) PROCESSOR. An entity licensed by the
			 AMCC under
Code of Ala. 1975
, §
								20-2A-63 authorized to purchase
			 cannabis from a cultivator and extract derivatives from the cannabis to produce
			 a medical cannabis product or products for sale and transfer in packaged and
			 labeled form to a dispensing site pursuant to
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §§
								20-2A-1, et. seq.
(21) QUALIFYING MEDICAL CONDITION. Any of the
			 following conditions or symptoms of conditions, but only after documentation
			 indicates that conventional medical treatment or therapy has failed unless
			 current medical treatment indicates that use of medical cannabis is the
			 standard of care:
(a) Autism Spectrum Disorder
			 (ASD).
(b) Cancer-related cachexia,
			 nausea or vomiting, weight loss, or chronic pain.
(c) Crohn's Disease.
(d) Depression.
(e) Epilepsy or a condition causing
			 seizures.
(f) HIV/AIDS-related
			 nausea or weight loss.
(g) Panic
			 disorder.
(h) Parkinson's
			 disease.
(i) Persistent nausea that
			 is not significantly responsive to traditional treatment, except for nausea
			 related to pregnancy, cannabis-induced cyclical vomiting syndrome, or
			 cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.
(j) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
			 (PTSD).
(k) Sickle Cell
			 Anemia.
(l) Spasticity associated
			 with a motor neuron disease, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
			 (ALS).
(m) Spasticity associated
			 with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or a spinal cord injury.
(n) A terminal illness.
(o) Tourette's Syndrome.
(p) A condition causing chronic or
			 intractable pain in which conventional therapeutic and opiate therapy is
			 contraindicated or has proved ineffective.