Maryland's legislature has passed two companion bills shielding veterinarians from professional discipline for discussing or recommending cannabis and CBD products for animals, forwarding both measures to Gov. Wes Moore (D).
The House of Delegates approved SB 54, sponsored by Sen. Clarence Lam (D), 137-0 after the Senate cleared it 45-0 weeks earlier. The companion measure, HB 452 by Del. Michele Guyton (D), passed the House 136-0 in February and the Senate 43-0 on Wednesday. Moore can sign, veto, or allow the bills to take effect without his signature.
The legislation would prohibit the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from suspending or revoking a license, reprimanding or censuring a licensee, or placing a licensee on probation “solely on the basis of the licensee discussing or recommending the use of cannabis…or a product that contains cannabidiol on an animal for potential therapeutic effect or health supplementation purposes.” If enacted, the law takes effect October 1.
Lam told the Senate’s Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee in February that conversations with veterinarians prompted the bill. “I’d heard from some vets who were concerned, because they had heard from animal owners or pet owners that some of their pets and animals were experiencing things like cancer,” he said, “and their veterinarians were not able to even discuss the options for cannabis use for those animals to be able to alleviate alleviate their pain and suffering for those animals, even if the animal owner requested it.” A previous letter from the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, he added, “has given a lot of caution to veterinarians to even talk about whether cannabis might be helpful for an animal.”
Matthew Weeman of the Maryland Veterinary Medical Association noted that CBD products are already sold over the counter and clients regularly bring cannabis questions to vets. “Most of us feel a little bit hamstrung and that we try to keep up on this, but we can’t discuss it with them, knowing that [state officials] could take punitive action against our license if we do that,” he said.
Maryland lawmakers are also advancing a bill to protect firefighters and rescue workers from being penalized over their lawful use of medical marijuana off the job, and recently sent the governor legislation to extend a psychedelics task force through 2027 to develop recommendations on expanding therapeutic access and potentially creating a broader legalization framework.
