Brian Lyman, Montgomery Advertiser Published 4:58 p.m. CT May 31, 2019 | Updated 10:49 p.m. CT May 31, 2019
More than 60% of people who use medical marijuana want to relieve chronic pain. Wochit, Montgomery Advertiser
The Alabama Legislature on Friday approved a bill that could provide a pathway to bringing medical marijuana to the state.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, passed the House 80 to 19 earlier on Friday. The Senate concurred in amendments 27 to 2. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.
“People realize we need to quit thinking everything’s wrong because it was taboo in the past,” Melson said after the Senate gave its final approval on Friday. “It doesn’t mean we don’t need to be looking for the good in it.”
The bill is a step forward from previous legislative attitudes toward medical marijuana and a step back from the original Senate bill, which authorized its use in Alabama.
The 15-member commission would hold at least three public meetings on medical cannabis and develop recommendations on the implementation of medical marijuana. The commission — which would include least four physicians, three attorneys, and mental health counselors and business representatives — would have to come up with its ideas by Dec. 1.
The Legislature would not be obliged to implement the commission’s recommendations, though the Senate voted for authorization 17 to 6 on May 9.
Melson’s legislation also renews Carly’s Law, which would have expired on July 1, for another year. Carly’s Law, passed in 2014, authorizes a study of cannabidiol (CBD) oil at UAB. Several families of children who suffer major seizures have said their children have made significant progress after taking CBD oil.
The original Senate bill would have authorized medical marijuana in 2021 for a dozen different medical conditions, including cancer, ALS, opioid addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Patients seeking medical marijuana would need recommendations from two physicians and would have to be finding little success with traditional treatments. Patients would have to carry a card authorizing medical marijuana use, which would cost $65 a year.
House members raised questions about dosages and enforcement of the law, and sponsors agreed to turn it into the study commission and the Carly’s Law renewal.
More: Patients plead for medical marijuana access at House hearing
Some House members on Friday afternoon questioned why the Carly’s Law renewal was in the bill, suggesting it should have been a separate piece of legislation. Rep. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, also questioned whether state commission would be redundant to expected federal studies of the issue, and said she wanted to see documentation from the UAB study.
“I would like to see a report back on everything they’ve studied, how they’ve spent our money and what they’ve learned,” she said.
Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, who handled the bill and has been at the forefront of efforts to make CBD oil available, cited past efforts by the federal government to make clinical studies of marijuana difficult.
“The fact is the federal bureaucracy has really dragged their feet and gotten us into this position to begin with,” he said.
Melson said he would work to bring a medical marijuana authorization bill in the 2020 session, which begins next February.
“If the commission does its job, I think it’s got a good chance,” he said.
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