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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
1997 SESSION
979002324Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That [ §§ 18.2-250.1 and 54.1.3408 of the
Code of Virginia are is ] amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 18.2-250.1. Possession of marijuana unlawful.
A. It is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess
marijuana unless the substance was obtained directly from, or pursuant to,
a valid prescription or order of a practitioner while acting in the course of
his professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized
by the Drug Control Act (§ 54.1-3400 et seq.).
Upon the prosecution of a person for violation of this section, ownership or occupancy of the premises or vehicle upon or in which marijuana was found shall not create a presumption that such person either knowingly or intentionally possessed such marijuana.
Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be confined in jail not more than thirty days and a fine of not more than $500, either or both; any person, upon a second or subsequent conviction of a violation of this section, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to members of state, federal, county, city or town law-enforcement agencies or correctional officers, as defined in § 53.1-1, certified as handlers of dogs trained in the detection of controlled substances when possession of marijuana is necessary for the performance of their duties.
[ § 54.1-3408. Professional use by practitioners.
A. A practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry, or
veterinary medicine or a licensed nurse practitioner pursuant to §
54.1-2957.01 a licensed physician's assistant pursuant to § 54.1-2952.1,
or a TPA-certified optometrist pursuant to Article 5 (§ 54.1-3222 et seq.)
of Chapter 32 of this title shall only prescribe, dispense, or administer
controlled substances in good faith for medicinal or therapeutic purposes
within the course of his professional practice. The practitioner may prescribe,
on a written prescription or on oral prescription as authorized by this
chapter, and administer drugs and devices, or he may cause them to be
administered by a nurse, physician's assistant or intern under his direction
and supervision, or a practitioner may prescribe and cause drugs and devices to
be administered to patients in state-owned or state-operated hospitals or
facilities licensed as hospitals by the Board of Health or psychiatric
hospitals licensed by the State Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance
Abuse Services Board by other persons who have been trained properly to
administer drugs and who administer drugs only under the control and
supervision of the practitioner or a pharmacist or a practitioner may cause
drugs and devices to be administered to patients by emergency medical services
personnel who have been certified and authorized to administer such drugs and
devices pursuant to Board of Health regulations governing emergency medical
services and who are acting within the scope of such certification.
Pursuant to an oral or written order or standing protocol issued by the
practitioner within the course of his professional practice, a practitioner may
authorize registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to possess (i)
epinephrine for administration in treatment of emergency medical conditions and
(ii) heparin and sterile normal saline to use for the maintenance of
intravenous access lines.
A practitioner may authorize the administration of vaccines to adults for
immunization, when a practitioner with prescriptive authority is not physically
present, by registered nurses or licensed practical nurses under the immediate
and direct supervision of a registered nurse, pursuant to a protocol approved
by the Board of Nursing. A practitioner acting on behalf of and in accordance
with established protocols of the Department of Health may authorize the
administration of vaccines to any person by a nurse when the prescriber is not
physically present.
No practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry, or
veterinary medicine or a licensed nurse practitioner pursuant to §
54.1-2957.01 a licensed physician's assistant pursuant to § 54.1-2952.1,
or a TPA-certified optometrist pursuant to Article 5 (§ 54.1-3222 et seq.)
of Chapter 32 of this title shall prescribe, dispense, administer, or cause to
be administered marijuana.
A dentist may cause Schedule VI topical drugs to be administered under his
direction and supervision by either a dental hygienist or by an authorized
agent of the dentist.
No written prescription order form shall include more than one
prescription. This provision shall not apply, however, to the entry of any
order on a patient's chart in any hospital or any long-term care facility, as
defined in Board regulations, in Virginia or to a prescription ordered through
the pharmacy operated by the Department of Corrections, the central pharmacy of
the Department of Health, or the central outpatient pharmacy operated by the
Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse
Services.
Such a prescription shall be written, dated, and signed by the person
prescribing on the day when issued, and shall bear the full name and address of
the patient for whom the drug is prescribed, and the full name, address, and
registry number under the federal laws of the person prescribing, if he is
required by those laws to be so registered.
This section shall not prevent the administration of drugs by a person who
has satisfactorily completed a training program for this purpose approved by
the Board of Nursing and who administers such drugs in accordance with a
physician's instructions pertaining to dosage, frequency, and manner of
administration, and in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Board of
Pharmacy relating to security and record keeping, when the drugs administered
would be normally self-administered by (i) a resident of a facility licensed or
certified by the State Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse
Services Board; (ii) a resident of any adult care residence which is licensed
by the Department of Social Services; (iii) a resident of the Virginia
Rehabilitation Center for the Blind; (iv) a resident of a facility approved by
the Board or Department of Juvenile Justice for the placement of children in
need of services or delinquent or alleged delinquent youth; (v) a program
participant of an adult day-care center licensed by the Department of Social
Services; or (vi) a resident of any facility authorized or operated by a state
or local government whose primary purpose is not to provide health care
services.
Nothing in this title shall prohibit the administration of normally
self-administered oral or topical drugs by unlicensed individuals to a person
in his private residence.
This section shall not interfere with any prescriber issuing prescriptions
in compliance with the provisions of this section to a Board agent for use
pursuant to subsection G of § 18.2-258.1. Such prescriptions issued by
such prescriber shall be deemed to be valid prescriptions. This section shall
not prohibit a prescriber from using preprinted prescriptions for drugs
classified in Schedule VI if all requirements concerning dates, signatures, and
other information specified above are otherwise fulfilled.
B. The written prescription referred to in subsection A of this section
shall be written with ink or individually typed and each prescription shall be
manually signed by the prescriber. The prescription may be prepared by an agent
for his signature. The prescription shall contain the name, address, telephone
number, and federal controlled substances registration number assigned to the
prescriber. The prescriber's information shall be either preprinted upon the
prescription blank, typewritten, rubber stamped, or printed by hand.
The oral prescription referred to in subsection A of this section shall be
transmitted to the pharmacy of the patient's choice by the prescriber or his
authorized agent. For the purposes of this section, an authorized agent of the
prescriber shall be an employee of the prescriber who is under his immediate
and personal supervision, or if not an employee, an individual who holds a
valid license allowing the administration or dispensing of drugs and who is
specifically directed by the prescriber.
C. Pursuant to § 32.1-87, the prescription form shall include two
boxes, one labelled "Voluntary Formulary Permitted" and the other labelled
"Dispense As Written." A prescriber may indicate his permission for the
dispensing of a drug product included in the Formulary upon signing a
prescription form and marking the box labelled "Voluntary Formulary Permitted."
A Voluntary Formulary product shall be dispensed if the prescriber fails to
indicate his preference. If no Voluntary Formulary product is immediately
available, or if the patient objects to the dispensing of a generic drug, the
pharmacist may dispense a brand name drug. On and after July 1, 1993, printed
prescription forms shall provide:
" □ Dispense As Written □ Voluntary Formulary Permitted ....................... Signature of prescriber
If neither box is marked, a Voluntary Formulary product must be
dispensed."
D. Prescribers' orders, whether written as chart orders or prescriptions,
for Schedules II, III, IV and V controlled drugs to be administered to (i)
patients or residents of long-term care facilities served by a Virginia
pharmacy from a remote location or (ii) patients receiving parenteral,
intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous or intraspinal infusion therapy and
served by a home infusion pharmacy from a remote location, may be transmitted
to that remote pharmacy by an electronic communications device over telephone
lines which send the exact image to the receiver in hard-copy form, and such
facsimile copy shall be treated as a valid, original prescription order.
]
2. That § 18.2-251.1 of the Code of Virginia is repealed.