{"id":5960,"date":"2017-12-26T02:25:12","date_gmt":"2017-12-26T07:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lcpllutzlivetotell.org\/?p=5960"},"modified":"2019-08-08T12:51:21","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:51:21","slug":"alison-grimes-lets-get-medical-marijuana-bill-gov-matt-bevins-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=5960","title":{"rendered":"Alison Grimes: Let’s get medical marijuana bill on Gov. Matt Bevin’s desk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alison Grimes: Let’s get medical marijuana bill on Gov. Matt Bevin’s desk<\/h1>\n

Thomas Novelly<\/a>, Louisville Courier Journal<\/span>Published 7:00 a.m. ET Dec. 26, 2017 |\u00a0Updated 6:50 p.m. ET Dec. 26, 2017<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alison<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Alison Grimes’ New Year’s resolution is blunt: Medical marijuana must be legalized in Kentucky to help veterans suffering from PTSD and others who are painfully ill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an issue of which I hoped the commonwealth would have already addressed,\u201d Grimes told Courier Journal. \u201cMany of Kentucky\u2019s neighbors have already legalized medical cannabis to aid and help their citizens with pain. Kentucky is behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

But given\u00a0Gov.\u00a0Matt Bevin and\u00a0law enforcement organizations’ concerns over the issue, there are questions over whether a bill\u00a0could pass.<\/p>\n

No matter, Grimes said. She wants to get a bill on Bevin’s desk this year and see what happens. The governor has said he could possibly support medical marijuana if it were properly regulated.<\/p>\n

Background:\u00a0<\/strong>Grimes: ‘Not enough bourbon’ in Kentucky to make commission’s voter data request seem sensible<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Next year “is and must be the year when Kentucky finally steps up on medical marijuana,” Grimes said last month in a statement announcing\u00a0the creation of a task force on the issue.\u00a0“We have to get this done to help Kentuckians who are hurting.”<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical marijuana.<\/p>\n

Citing research and testimonies she has\u00a0received from visiting veterans and patients across the state, Grimes\u00a0said she was confident in Kentucky’s need for medical marijuana.<\/p>\n

A similar bill was introduced in the last legislative session\u00a0by Sen. Perry Clark, a Louisville Democrat. But his Cannabis Compassion Act and Cannabis Freedom Act, which were aimed at\u00a0decriminalizing\u00a0marijuana and\u00a0legalizing\u00a0it for medical use, got nowhere.<\/p>\n

“I think we will see several measures relating to medical cannabis this year,” Clark said. “We’re still in the dark ages of marijuana legislation in Kentucky.”<\/p>\n

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\"Tom<\/p>\n

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Tom Owens poses among his medical marijuana plants in his secured growing facility Friday, June 9, 2017 in Maple Valley Township. Owens, 63, is a medical marijuana user and licensed caregiver for five patients. Owens uses medical marijuana to manage chronic pain from back problems and a hip replacement, and hopes to open a dispensary in Brown City. “I used to be a farmer \u0097 I farmed corn, soybeans, hay and alfalfa \u0097 so I like growing (cannabis), but mostly I just want to help people. There’s not many places people can get cannabis close, they have to drive far. I just thought with a dispensary here, it would be easier for them.”\u00a0JEFFREY M. SMITH, TIMES HERALD<\/span><\/div>\n
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