The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would expand the state\u2019s current CBD-for-epilepsy-only law to allow the terminally ill to access full spectrum medical cannabis.<\/p>\n
While the new law, HB 1554<\/a>,<\/u> still falls among the strictest in the nation, it would expand access in Missouri. Patients suffering from a list of terminal conditions yet to be named will be able to have access to medical marijuana in a smokeless form. Patients with other non-life-threatening diseases would have access to a hemp extract that\u2019s at least five percent CBD, with no more than 0.3 percent THC.<\/p>\n The bill\u2019s system for differentiating between the two groups of people \u2014 those with terminal illnesses and those with epilepsy \u2014 gets a bit confusing. The bill\u2019s summary<\/a> notes, \u201cA medical cannabis registration card may only be issued for terminal illnesses and a hemp extract registration card may only be issued for intractable epilepsy.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the bill says that certain other debilitating, long-term diseases will qualify for medical marijuana.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The full list<\/a> of what\u2019s currently being recognized as a \u201cdebilitating condition\u201d is cancer, glaucoma, HIV, ALS, Crohn\u2019s disease, ulcerative colitis, Alzheimer\u2019s, MS, PTSD and epilepsy.<\/p>\n But if people with epilepsy and other serious conditions would be allowed access to medical marijuana, why is Missouri creating all this separate CBD-only infrastructure? The bill creates various matching permits for both cannabis and CBD producers. CBD-only dispensaries would be called \u201ccannabidiol oil care centers,\u201d and full spectrum marijuana retailers would be called \u201ccannabis care centers.\u201d The bill also puts forth a system with matching cultivation and processing licenses. Since the bill does not legalize cannabis smoking, both hemp and marijuana growers will have to turn their harvests into oil.<\/p>\n Despite the confusion on details, it has been clear for a while that the intent of this bill was to help people in hospice care and end-of-life situations. The bill\u2019s sponsor, Rep. Jim Neely, told a crowd<\/a> last month: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people in my world, from the hospice and the long-term care world, that feel that this would be appropriate for people to ease the pain, suffering and the side-effects of the opioids and this might be the best way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Neely also cited President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cleadership<\/a>\u201d on the marijuana legalization issue as the House debate closed, according to a tweet from Eapen Thampy, a lobbyist working for medical cannabis legalization in Missouri.<\/p>\n Important to note Missouri Republicans praised leadership from POTUS @realDonaldTrump<\/a> who has called for federal medical marijuana reform and defense of federalist principles #moleg<\/a> #MAGA<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/MLZ4Gj0Kh4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 eapenthampy (@eapenthampy) May 1, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Following today\u2019s vote, Neely noted if lawmakers didn\u2019t get it done in the next three weeks \u2014 when the state\u2019s legislative session ends, the voters may. \u201cIf we don\u2019t take action,\u201d Neely said on Tuesday<\/a>, \u201cvoters of this state may very well take the decision out of the hands of the politicians and put it in the hands of the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n Some believe this may be a move by Missouri Republicans to appear pro-pot, taking the winds out of the sails of Missouri Democrats going into the midterm elections<\/a> this fall.<\/p>\n Longtime Missouri activist Amber Langston, currently serving as Deputy Director of Show-MeCannabis<\/a>, a Missouri organization working to legalize marijuana in the state, says she isn\u2019t giving the current bill much hope and thinks Republicans are attempting to ride the pro-cannabis energy through summer.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s what they are banking on, but we will still be running an educational campaign,\u201d Langston told Cannabis Now, referencing her organization\u2019s effort to get a medical marijuana initiative on the November election ballot<\/a>. \u201cBut support for medical [marijuana] is so great that it seems unlikely we could lose 20 percent or more support [before the election]. Perhaps I am wrong, but we have also been running a grassroots effort on this for seven years. So we have some public legitimacy.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US, <\/strong>do you think Missouri should expand their medical marijuana program?<\/p>\n The post Missouri May Allow Terminal Patients Access to THC, But No Smoking<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would expand the state\u2019s current CBD-for-epilepsy-only law to allow the terminally ill to access full spectrum medical cannabis. While the new law, HB 1554, still falls among the strictest in the nation, it would expand access in Missouri. Patients sufferingContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4051,50,3632,415,4133,1576,81,4134],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25893,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25892\/revisions\/25893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n
\nRead More: Missouri May Allow Terminal Patients Access to THC, But No Smoking<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"