{"id":6450,"date":"2018-02-28T10:26:37","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T15:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lcpllutzlivetotell.org\/?p=6450"},"modified":"2019-08-08T12:39:40","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:39:40","slug":"two-states-slowly-moving-toward-medical-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=6450","title":{"rendered":"These Two States Are Slowly Moving Toward Medical Marijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"

These Two States Are Slowly Moving Toward Medical Marijuana<\/h1>\n

Residents of Oklahoma and Tennesee have a renewed hope because these two states are slowly moving toward medical marijuana.<\/p>\n

By\u00a0A.J. Herrington<\/a><\/span> February 28, 2018<\/p>\n

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Thanks to legislative action, two more states are getting closer to having a medical\u00a0cannabis<\/a> program. Close votes by lawmakers in Tennessee and Oklahoma indicate that these two states are slowly moving toward medical marijuana. But both states have more work to do before medicinal cannabis programs are put into place.<\/p>\n

First Up: Tennessee<\/h2>\n

In Tennessee, legislators are considering the Medical Cannabis Only Act. If passed, the bill would allow patients to use cannabis oil medicines. The law forbids plant forms of cannabis, as well as smoking and vaping.<\/p>\n

Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, and Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, introduced the bill in January of this year. Sen. Dickerson is an anesthesiologist by profession.<\/p>\n

The House Criminal Justice subcommittee voted on the measure Tuesday. During the meeting, patient activists, lobbyists, and representatives of law enforcement packed the committee chamber.<\/p>\n

Stacie Mathes explained to lawmakers how medical marijuana has helped her sick daughter,\u00a0according to reports in local media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here because I know it works,\u201d Mathes said. \u201cIf we had\u00a0THC<\/a>\u00a0when we had the four medications she was on, it would not have taken us 11-months and days and days and days of withdrawals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law enforcement took their predictable prohibitionist stance. Terry Ashe, the Executive Director of the Tennessee Sheriff\u2019s Association, also addressed the panel. His group is opposed to cannabis because of its status under federal law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not here to practice medicine,\u201d said Ashe. \u201cWe are here to ask you all to understand we are not going to support Schedule One drugs in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The situation became dramatic when it came time for the subcommittee to vote. Six representatives make up the committee. Their 3-3 tie vote on whether to advance the bill would have meant the death of the measure.<\/p>\n

But Rep. Beth Harwell, the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, exercised her power to break the tie. Her \u201caye\u201d vote allows the bill to continue the legislative process.<\/p>\n

On To Oklahoma<\/h2>\n

In Oklahoma, voters will decide on the legalization of medicinal cannabis in June of this year. State Question 788 legalizes possession, use, and cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes if passed.<\/p>\n

The state legislature is working on measures that would regulate the cannabis industry if Question 788 is successful. Senate Bill 1120 limits the number of licenses for businesses and allows the state to set prices on cannabis products.<\/p>\n

The legislation also specifies the medical conditions for which doctors may prescribe medical marijuana. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved the bill on Monday by a 6-5 vote, allowing it to move on.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ervin Yen, a Republican from Oklahoma City, wrote the bill. He sees himself as a solitary cannabis advocate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the only guy in the Senate that\u2019s trying to legalize marijuana. The only one,\u201d said Yen,\u00a0according to published reports<\/a>. \u201cAnd I think if Oklahoma\u2019s going to do it, we need to do it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

But activists who succeeded in putting Question 788 on the ballot are not happy with Yen\u2019s proposals. Chip Paul of Oklahomans for Health said that limiting medical cannabis to a specific list of ailments is a step backward.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedical conditions are arbitrary. They\u2019re always subject to change. We\u2019ve written a progressive law that puts the decision in the hands of the physician. Our law ends up being more restrictive than any other in the country,\u201d said Paul.<\/p>\n

Final Hit:\u00a0These Two States Are Slowly Moving Toward Medical Marijuana<\/h2>\n

Responding to critics, Sen. Yen said his bill is a starting point, and he\u2019s open to compromise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s stuff in it that could be changed because it\u2019s a work in progress,\u201d said the bill\u2019s author, state Sen. Ervin Yen. \u201cAs you can imagine, legalizing marijuana, there\u2019s a lot of moving parts with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he also noted he believes Question 788 goes too far.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s titled \u2018medical\u2019 but in my opinion, it\u2019s recreational. I don\u2019t want that for Oklahoma,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Retrieved from: https:\/\/hightimes.com\/news\/two-states-slowly-moving-toward-medical-marijuana\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These Two States Are Slowly Moving Toward Medical Marijuana Residents of Oklahoma and Tennesee have a renewed hope because these two states are slowly moving toward medical marijuana. By\u00a0A.J. Herrington February 28, 2018 Thanks to legislative action, two more states are getting closer to having a medical\u00a0cannabis program. Close votes …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cannabis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}