Colorado senators have advanced a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana in healthcare facilities such as hospitals.
The Senate Health & Human Services Committee on Thursday unanimously approved the legislation from Sen. Kyle Mullica (D) in a 9-0 vote, with amendments. It’s one of the latest examples of a state legislature moving to adopt what’s known as “Ryan’s law,” named after a young cannabis patient in California who passed away.
As revised by the panel, the proposal allows health facilities to permit patients who are terminally ill and registered in the state’s medical marijuana program to use cannabis, with certain restrictions.
Under SB 26-007, health facilities would be permitted to develop guidelines for the use, storage and administration of medical marijuana. While the measure initially would have mandated that such facilities allow cannabis use, it was revised to simply allow them to set such guidelines.
Mullica, the sponsor, said at the committee hearing on Thursday that “this bill was brought to me, really, from a patient’s perspective—and really trying to make sure that, when we have terminally ill patients in the hospital, that we try to make sure that they’re comfortable and making sure that we have a continuation of care.”
“I think we still are moving the ball forward here, but also trying to address concerns that we heard from providers and from our hospitals, while still allowing for the conversation to happen of what it looks like for these terminally ill patients to be able to access medication they’ve been using to try to help with the issues they have—to try to keep them comfortable and to try to have that comfort that I think we would all hope that our family members going through a terminally ill disease can can have,” he said. “That’s what we’re attempting here in Senate Bill 7.”
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) would be prohibited from requiring compliance with the policy as a condition of obtaining or renewing a license or certification under the bill. Health facilities would be allowed to suspend the policy change if they risked enforcement action by a federal agency.
“In FY 2026-27, workload in the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division in CDPHE will minimally increase to conduct outreach and education to licensed health care facilities regarding medical marijuana use,” a fiscal impact analysis says. “The department may also require legal services, provided by the Department of Law, related to rulemaking and implementation. This workload can be accomplished within existing appropriations.”
Other amendments adopted in committee would add additional compliance language, clarify that health facilities wouldn’t be required to store or dispense medical cannabis and limit legal liability for health institutions that permit medical marijuana use.
Multiple state legislatures have pursued similar Ryan’s law reforms this session.
For example, a bill to allow terminally ill patients in Washington State to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and hospices was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The Virginia Senate passed a measure this week to provide legal protections for hospital workers to facilitate the use of medical marijuana for patients with terminal illnesses in their facilities, so long as cannabis is federally rescheduled.
Last week, the Mississippi House of Representatives similarly advanced legislation to allow terminally ill patients to access medical marijuana in health facilities.
California and a handful of other states already have laws allowing terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities.
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Back in Colorado, the state saw over $1 billion in marijuana sales—a milestone the governor touted in December.
Gov. Jared Polis (D) also said last week that his state should not have joined a lawsuit supporting the federal ban on gun ownership by people who use marijuana that’s now before the U.S. Supreme Court—and he personally opposes the state attorney general’s “legal position on this.”
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