![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-182.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Alabama senators on Thursday approved a controversial bill in committee that would require women of \u201cchildbearing age\u201d to show proof that they\u2019re not pregnant in order to buy medical cannabis products from dispensaries.<\/p>\n
It was also amended to make it so doctors would not be permitted to issue medical cannabis recommendations to women between 13-50 \u201cwithout first obtaining a negative pregnancy test from the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Senate Children, Youth, and Human Services Committee passed the amended SB 324, sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts (R)<\/a>, in a 7-2 vote. It then advanced to a second reading in the full chamber hours later but still requires a third reading vote before potentially being transmitted to the House.<\/p>\n The bill contains several pieces of language that would create restrictions for women who participate in the state\u2019s limited medical marijuana program, which was enacted last year<\/a>. In order to purchase medical cannabis products under the bill, women between the ages of 25 and 50 would be required to produce \u201ca negative pregnancy test either from her physician or documentation from a certified medical lab that has been ordered by a physician licensed in Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite facing sharp resistance from drug policy and civil rights activists, the bill<\/a> as amended<\/a> passed out of the committee and quickly moved to the floor.<\/p>\n The legislation further specifies that the negative pregnancy tests required for women trying to buy medical cannabis \u201cmust be dated within 48 hours of purchase before she may purchase any medical cannabis except in the capacity as a registered caregiver.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 It goes on to say that \u201cany registered qualified patient who becomes pregnant shall report her pregnancy status to her registered certifying physician and shall be prohibited from obtaining medical cannabis throughout the pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n Marijuana Moment made repeated requests for comment from Stutts\u2019s office in the lead up to the committee vote, but a spokesperson said the senator \u201cwill not be able to make comment on this bill\u201d because of scheduling complications.<\/p>\n The proposal also stipulates that no dispensaries could be located within 1,000 feet of a daycare center or two-year or four-year \u201cinstitution of higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll Alabamians should be alarmed that the Senate is considering a bill that would blatantly violate the Constitutional rights of women who need medical marijuana,\u201d Emma Roth, a staff attorney at National Advocates For Pregnant Women (NAPW), told Marijuana Moment. \u201cSB 324 is not grounded in science, and will not actually improve maternal or infant health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn fact, SB 324 would block pregnant women who need prescribed medical marijuana from receiving it, even when she and her doctor agree it is in the best interest of her health and her pregnancy,\u201d Roth said. \u201cPre-existing medical conditions do not disappear when someone becomes pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n Stutts, who is an obstetrician,\u00a0said<\/a> in a recent interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5 that \u201cwe need some parameters\u201d on the medical cannabis program, which he does not support.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it is in place,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it can be improved, and one of the ways it can be improved is to limit pregnant people using it, limit their availability to it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s plenty of data for the harmful effects of marijuana during pregnancy. And I just simply felt like we need to have some guidelines in the bill,\u201d he said. \u201cYeah, the marijuana bill is law now but if we\u2019re going to have that as the law, we need to set some parameters.\u201d<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first attempt to impose cannabis access restrictions on targeting women.<\/p>\n Oklahoma regulators faced significant pushback in 2018 after proposing a rule that would have required women to complete a pregnancy test before receiving a medical cannabis recommendation from a doctor. The department faced lawsuits\u2014as well as opposition from the state attorney general\u2019s office\u2014and regulators ultimately revised the rule to eliminate the provision.<\/p>\n \u201cRequiring women submit to a pregnancy test before their doctor may make a medical marijuana recommendation is discriminatory and a clear violation of the 14th Amendment,\u201d ACLU of Oklahoma said following the rule proposal before it was eliminated.<\/p>\n Last month, a key Alabama Senate committee separately approved a bill to decriminalize marijuana possession and provide expungements for people with prior convictions, sending it to the full Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a limited medical cannabis legalization bill in May 2021.<\/p>\n Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill Would Add Billions In Revenue And Reduce Prison Costs, Congressional Budget Office Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Alabama Senate Committee Approves Bill To Force Women Who Want Medical Marijuana To Show Negative Pregnancy Tests<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Alabama senators on Thursday approved a controversial bill in committee that would require women of \u201cchildbearing age\u201d to show proof that they\u2019re not pregnant in order to buy medical cannabis products from dispensaries. It was also amended to make it so doctors would not be permitted to issue medical cannabisContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":503,"featured_media":53973,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53972"}],"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\/503"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53974,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53972\/revisions\/53974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-181.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Alabama Senate Committee Approves Bill To Force Women Who Want Medical Marijuana To Show Negative Pregnancy Tests<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"