Ask Gov. Ivey to sign the medical cannabis bill if it makes it to her desk.

Great news! The Alabama House of Representatives just passed medical cannabis in a 68-34-1 vote. The bill already passed the Senate (20-10), but because it was amended in the House, the two versions need to be reconciled before it can head to Gov. Ivey.

Although it has passed the Senate three years in a row, this is the first time the House of Representatives has ever passed medical cannabis legislation.

You can check out our summary of the bill here.

Please take a few minutes to ask Gov. Kay Ivey to sign SB 46 into law if it lands on her desk. Here are some talking points you can use:

• Patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, intractable pain, and other terrible medical conditions deserve our compassion and mercy.

• Some of our suffering neighbors with chronic medical conditions find that prescription medicines simply do not work for them. Their cancer wasting, seizures, pain, and spasms simply have not responded to available treatments.

• If a suffering patient’s physician recommends medical cannabis, Alabama law should not stand in the way. 

Then, spread the news with other compassionate Alabamians.

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As of today, Louisiana’s list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis has gone from one of the most restrictive to one of the more expansive!

Three new medical cannabis laws took effect today, August 1, 2020. Perhaps the most important of the new laws is HB 819, which allows doctors to recommend medical cannabis for any medical condition the physician “considers debilitating to an individual patient” that the physician is qualified to treat.

Previously, patients could only receive a recommendation for cannabis if they have a medical condition that is specifically listed. HB 819 also adds several qualifying conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain associated with sickle cell anemia or fibromyalgia. The bill also removes the Board of Medical Examiners’ role in regulating medical cannabis recommendations. Now, physicians may communicate a recommendation by any means allowed by the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy.

The other two laws that took effect today are HB 211, which protects banks serving medical cannabis businesses from state penalties, and HB 418, which protects physicians and medical facilities involved in medical cannabis.

While HB 819 will allow tens of thousands more individuals to qualify, Louisiana’s medical cannabis program fails patients in some other important areas. Louisiana is one of only two comprehensive medical cannabis states that prohibits cannabis in its raw, flower form. This prohibition drives up prices and deprives some patients of the option that works best for them. The state also has an absurdly low number of manufacturers (two) and dispensing pharmacies (nine or 10), reducing access and options.

Consider reaching out to your state lawmakers to let them know what reforms you want them to champion in 2021 — whether it’s improving medical cannabis, decriminalization, or cannabis legalization.

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Starting today — August 1, 2020 — Minnesotans with chronic pain qualify for medical cannabis!

Qualifying patients whose healthcare providers are willing to certify them for the medical cannabis program can enroll through the Department of Health.

Until today, pain only qualified if it was “intractable,” meaning its “cause cannot be removed” and “the full range of [appropriate] pain management modalities … has been used without adequate result or with intolerable side effects.” Expanding the program to include “chronic pain” allows tens of thousands of additional pain patients to qualify and avoids steering them to more dangerous treatments.

Our allies at Sensible Minnesota petitioned the Department of Health to add chronic pain last year, and it recommended doing so. However, new conditions aren’t added to the program until the following summer to give the legislature a chance to reject them.

While the addition of “chronic pain” is welcome news, voters want the legislature to go further. According to Civiqs research, 67% of Minnesotans support allowing adults to use cannabis. Legalizing and regulating cannabis can grow the economy at a time when jobs and revenue are desperately needed. And, it is an essential piece of the needed policing and racial justice overhaul. Cannabis legalization removes the number one pretext for unnecessary civilian-police interactions — the supposed smell of cannabis.

Let your lawmakers know it’s past time to legalize marijuana. And stay tuned for a voter guide — so you can help elect a more supportive legislature.

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Good news! Last week, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a bill (HB 819) that will allow doctors to recommend medical cannabis for any medical condition the physician “considers debilitating to an individual patient” that the physician is qualified to treat. Currently, patients can only receive a recommendation for cannabis if they have a medical condition that is specifically listed.

HB 819 also adds several qualifying conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain associated with sickle cell anemia or fibromyalgia.

Gov. Edwards also signed a bill to protect banks serving medical cannabis businesses from state penalties (HB 211) and one to protect physicians and medical facilities involved in medical cannabis (HB 418).

All three take effect on August 1.

HB 819 was sponsored by Rep. Larry Bagley (R). Bagley had been opposed to medical cannabis until he heard from constituents who found it relieved their pain. Now, he has become a champion.

His turnaround shows the dramatic impact constituent stories can have on their lawmakers. Considering reaching out to your state legislators about other marijuana policy reforms you care about.

If you’re a medical cannabis patient who has had problems with the program — perhaps due to the limited number of medical cannabis pharmacies or the lack of access to raw, flower cannabis — you may want to let your state senator and representative know.

You can also reach out to urge your lawmakers to support decriminalization or legalization of cannabis.

Thanks for your support and compassion!

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Ask your legislators to stand up for medical cannabis patients.

On Tuesday, the North Carolina General Assembly convened in Raleigh for its 2020 legislative session. But — due to the coronavirus — it will operate very differently from prior years. Only about 20% of lawmakers were present. Committee meetings will be held online, and floor votes will be staggered to allow social distancing.

While the legislature’s operations have changed to protect public health, there’s no reason it can’t do the people’s business. One of the bills awaiting action is Rep. Kelly Alexander’s medical cannabis bill — H 401.

Let your lawmakers know you want North Carolina to join the 33 other states with compassionate medical cannabis laws.

It’s simply wrong to force patients to choose between their health and abiding by state law. Medical cannabis has been shown to relieve pain, seizures, nausea, and other serious symptoms. It’s allowed thousands of patients to reduce or eliminate their use of dangerous opiate medications.

Urge the legislators who represent you to listen to the 80% of voters who support allowing this safe, effective treatment.

After you take action, please spread the word by email or social media. The more North Carolinians that raise their voices for compassion, the more elected officials will heed the call.

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Contact your senator now in support of adding inhalation to the medical marijuana program!

Yesterday, a bill was barely defeated that would allow for inhalation of medical marijuana. Right now, patients are severely limited on how they can use medical marijuana.

But there's still hope! The legislature is back in session this weekend, and there is a chance to reconsider the bill and have another vote as soon as TODAY. Please write your senator right now in favor of allowing patients to use medical marijuana through inhalation.

Many patients with severe pain, spasms, and nausea need the immediate relief inhaled cannabis provides. Louisiana is the only one of the 33 medical cannabis states that fails to allow this important mode of administration.

It's so important to contact your elected officials, so please do so NOW. Then, spread the word to others in Louisiana, so that they, too, can speak up for a workable medical cannabis program.

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Illinois State Sen. Dan Harmon is championing a bill that would allow individuals who are prescribed opioids to qualify for access to medical cannabis. His bill, SB 336, is expected to receive a hearing tomorrow in the Senate Executive Committee.

Hundreds of thousands of people are prescribed opioids in Illinois. These drugs carry a very high risk of dependency, and they can cause significant long-term harm including the risk of overdose death. Medical cannabis is now providing relief around the country and reducing incidents of drug ovedose deaths where it is available. But Illinois is one of only three medical marijuana states where pain patients don’t qualify, unless they have a specifically listed disease.

This bill would also take the sensible step of removing the requirement that medical cannabis patients submit fingerprints, provided they qualify under the new provisions. It is a huge first step for the many Illinoisans suffering unbearable pain every day.

If you are an Illinois resident, please tell your senator to support SB 336 and vote “yes” if it is placed before the senator for a vote.

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Earlier this year, the Minnesota Legislature approved a bill requiring the state’s Department of Health to recommend by January 1, 2016, whether intractable pain should be added as a condition that qualifies for medical cannabis. The department is currently seeking public input on this question and has created two opportunities to share your thoughts.

First, the department is accepting written comment on including intractable pain. There is currently no deadline for submitting comments. However, potential patients, their caregivers, and supportive health care practitioners should submit their comments soon so they can be taken into consideration early in the process.

Second, the department will be hosting listening sessions around the state to take public testimony on including intractable pain. The first two will be held this week:

Wednesday, August 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Rochester Public Library

Thursday, August 27 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Kandiyohi Health and Human Services building in Willmar, Minnesota

Additional events will be held across the state in September and October. We will let you know when and where they will be closer to the date.

More than 15,000 Americans die each year from prescription opiate overdoses. Patients deserve a safer — and often more effective — alternative. Please check out our talking points and let the department know it’s time to stop leaving intractable pain patients behind.

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The Obama administration calls prescription drug abuse the nation’s most pressing drug problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug deaths are at an all time high and account for more deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S. than any other drug. Advocates of affordable health care are decrying the exorbitant price of prescriptions and the toll such costs take on them and their families.

Well, guess what non-toxic and inexpensive medicine patients use as a substitute for those expensive, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs? If you said marijuana, you are correct!

A recent survey conducted by the Berkeley Patients Group and reported in the American Psychiatric Association’s Institute on Psychiatric Services found that 66% of their medical marijuana patient clients reported using marijuana as a prescription drug substitute. Most patients said they used marijuana because it was more effective than their prescribed drugs and was accompanied with fewer, and less severe, side effects.

Unfortunately, the federal government insists that marijuana is a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use. Perhaps if it came in a pill, cost a fortune, and had debilitating side effects, it would sail right through the FDA approval process.

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In an interview Wednesday, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said that he had been tempted to use medical marijuana while undergoing treatment for cancer. He cited many of the reasons other medical marijuana patients do for wanting to use this treatment, including intense pain and being unable to keep anti-nausea medication down long enough for it to work. Unfortunately, medical marijuana is not legal in Utah, so Shurtleff was unwilling to use it, even when offered it by a friend.

This experience apparently taught Shurtleff why people would want to use this medicine. He even said that with the proper controls he would support a medical marijuana program in Utah, so that others in his situation wouldn’t have to choose between obeying the law and relieving their suffering. Hopefully, this will be a small step toward enacting such a bill.

Under current state law, Utah residents can be jailed for six months and fined $1,000 for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Sale of any amount nets a sentence of up to five years and a $5,000 fine.

While Shurtleff is to be commended for his change of heart, it is unfortunate that he had to go through such a horrible experience to finally see the necessity for medical marijuana access and patient protections. Our leaders shouldn’t have to feel the pain that patients feel to treat them with compassion.

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