Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 216 - Department of health › Chapter 20 - Community Health › Subchapter 10 - Screening, Medical Services, and Reporting › Part 3 - Medical Marijuana Program › Section 216-RICR-20-10-3.3 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Wherever used in these Regulations the
				  following terms shall be construed as follows:
1. "Act" means R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter
				  21-28.6-1
				  entitled "The Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana
				  Act."
2. "Authorized purchaser"
				  means a natural person, who is at least twenty-one (21) years old, and who is
				  registered with the Department of Health for the purpose of assisting a
				  qualifying patient in purchasing marijuana from a compassion center. An
				  authorized purchaser may assist no more than one patient, and is prohibited
				  from consuming marijuana obtained for the use of the qualifying
				  patient.
3. "Cardholder" means a
				  person who has registered with the Department of Health pursuant to R.I. Gen.
				  Laws Chapter 21-28.6 and has been issued and possesses a valid registry
				  identification card or license.
4.
				  "Commercial unit" means a building, office, suite or room within a commercial
				  or industrial building for use by one business and is rented or owned by that
				  business or person.
5. "Compassion
				  center" means a not-for-profit corporation subject to the provisions of R.I.
				  Gen. Laws Chapter 7-6, and registered under R.I. Gen. Laws §
											21-28.6-12 of
				  the Act that acquires, possesses, cultivates, manufactures, delivers,
				  transfers, transports, supplies or dispenses marijuana, and/or related supplies
				  and educational materials, to patient cardholders and/or their registered
				  caregiver cardholder and authorized purchaser.
6. "Debilitating medical condition" means:
a. Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for
				  human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Hepatitis C,
				  post-traumatic stress disorder; or the treatment of these conditions;
b. A chronic or debilitating disease or
				  medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:
				  cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe, debilitating, chronic pain; severe
				  nausea; seizures, including but not limited to, those characteristic of
				  epilepsy; or severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to,
				  those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease; or agitation of
				  Alzheimer's Disease; or c. Any other medical condition or its treatment
				  approved by the Department of Health pursuant to § 3.4.4 of this
				  Part.
7. "Department of
				  Business Regulation" means the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation
				  or its successor agency.
8.
				  "Department of Health" means the Rhode Island Department of Health or its
				  successor agency.
9. "Department of
				  Public Safety" means the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety or its
				  successor agency.
10. "Dried usable
				  marijuana" means the dried leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant after the
				  wet harvested leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant have undergone the
				  drying process.
11. "Dwelling unit"
				  means a room or group of rooms within a dwelling used or intended for use by
				  one family or household, or by no more than three (3) unrelated individuals,
				  for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
12. "Equivalent amount" means the portion of
				  usable marijuana, be it extracted, edible, concentrated or any other form,
				  found to be equal to a portion of dried usable marijuana, as defined in §
											3.13   of this Part.
13. "Full assessment" means evaluation by
				  practitioner which at a minimum documents in the medical record: history of
				  present illness, social history, past medical and surgical history, alcohol and
				  substance use history, physical exam and documentation of therapies with
				  inadequate response.
14.
				  "Marijuana" has the meaning given that term in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											21-28-1.02(26) 
				  and is as follows: all parts of the plant (Cannabis sativa, L.), whether
				  growing or not; the seeds of the plant; the resin extracted from any part of
				  the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or
				  preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin, but shall not include the mature
				  stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the
				  seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture,
				  or preparation of mature stalks, (except the resin extracted from it), fiber,
				  oil or cake, or the sterilized seed from the plant which is incapable of
				  germination.
15. "Marijuana infused
				  products" means a product infused with medical marijuana or an extract of
				  medical marijuana that is intended for use or consumption other than by
				  smoking, including, but not limited to edible products, ointments, oils and
				  tinctures. These products when manufactured or sold by a licensed medical
				  marijuana compassion center shall not be considered a food or drug.
16. "Mature marijuana plant" means a
				  marijuana plant that has flowers or buds that are readily observable by an
				  unaided visual examination.
17.
				  "Medical marijuana program tracking system" shall refer to any system
				  designated by the Department of Business Regulation and the Department of
				  Health designed and used to record all medical marijuana program regulated
				  activities with unique identifiers to track all activities and transactions
				  from point of origin to point of sale ("seed to sale"), "Seed to sale"
				  activities and transactions include but are not limited to: all cultivation,
				  harvest, processing, manufacturing, and packaging and labeling; all purchases,
				  acquisitions or third party supply of marijuana; all sales and dispensing
				  transactions, and any other transfers of marijuana as permitted by the
				  Department of Business Regulation; any instances of destruction of marijuana;
				  and testing compliance tracking. The Medical Marijuana Program Tracking System
				  may also be used to record and/or report any other additional information
				  directed by the Department of Business Regulation or the Department of Health
				  consistent with the Department of Business Regulation regulations and/or
				  Department of Health regulations.
18. "Medical use" means the acquisition,
				  possession, cultivation, manufacture, use, delivery, transfer, or
				  transportation of marijuana or paraphernalia relating to the consumption of
				  marijuana to alleviate a patient cardholder's debilitating medical condition or
				  symptoms associated with the medical condition.
19. "Paraphernalia", as used in these
				  Regulations, means any equipment, product, or material of any kind that is
				  primarily intended or designed for use in planting, propagating, growing,
				  cultivating, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing,
				  processing, preparing, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body
				  marijuana, including but not limited to: metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone,
				  plastic, or ceramic pipes with or without screens, permanent screens, or
				  punctured metal bowls; water pipes, roach clips: meaning objects used to hold
				  burning material, such as a marijuana cigarette, that has become too small or
				  too short to be held in the hand; bongs; ice pipes or chillers.
20. "Parent or legal guardian" means the
				  custodial parent for a person under eighteen (18) years of age or the legal
				  guardian with responsibility for health care decisions for a person of any
				  age.
21. "Practitioner" means a
				  person who is licensed to practice medicine with authority to prescribe drugs
				  pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 5-37 or a physician licensed with authority
				  to prescribe drugs in Massachusetts or Connecticut.
22. "Primary caregiver" means a natural
				  person who is at least twenty-one (21) years old and is a resident of Rhode
				  Island. A primary caregiver may assist no more than five (5) qualifying
				  patients with their medical use of marijuana.
23. "Qualifying patient" means a person who
				  has been diagnosed by a practitioner as having a debilitating medical condition
				  and is a resident of Rhode Island.
24. "Registry identification card" means a
				  document issued by the Department of Health that identifies a person as a
				  registered qualifying patient, a registered primary caregiver, or an authorized
				  purchaser.
25. "R.I. Gen. Laws"
				  means the General Laws of Rhode Island, as amended.
26. "Seedling" means a marijuana plant with
				  no observable flowers or buds.
27.
				  "These regulations" mean all parts of Rhode Island rules and regulations
				  related to the Medical Marijuana Program administered by the Department of
				  Health.
28. "Unusable marijuana"
				  means marijuana seeds, stalks, seedlings, and unusable roots.
29. "Usable marijuana" means the dried leaves
				  and flowers of the marijuana plant, and any mixture or preparation thereof, but
				  does not include the seeds, stalks, and roots of the plant.
30. "Wet marijuana" means the harvested
				  leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant before they have reached a dry usable
				  state. Marijuana that has been dried to a usable state shall be assumed to have
				  yielded twenty percent (20%) of the weight of the wet marijuana as defined in
				  §
											3.13   of
				  this Part.
31. "Written
				  certification" means the qualifying patient's medical records, and a statement
				  signed by a practitioner, stating that in the practitioner's professional
				  opinion the potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana would likely
				  outweigh the health risks for the qualifying patient. A written certification
				  shall be made only in the course of a bona fide practitioner-patient
				  relationship after the practitioner has completed a full assessment of the
				  qualifying patient's medical history. The written certification shall specify
				  the qualifying patient's debilitating medical condition or
				  conditions.