Whole-plant products would be allowed under the measure, but patients would be required to vape them.
A bill to legalize medical marijuana is headed to the Kentucky Senate, after the House of Representatives passed it on Thursday, Marijuana Moment reported.
Sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes (R), the measure was approved in a 59-34 vote just a week after the Kentucky House Judiciary Committee gave it the green light.
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A similar version of the bill did not pass the Senate in 2020 even though it soundly passed in the House. Nemes then reintroduced the legislation for the 2021 session, which also didn’t advance further.
“This is Kentucky grown, Kentucky processed, Kentucky tested,” Nemes said ahead of the vote. “Grown by Kentucky farmers on Kentucky land with Kentucky seeds for our Kentucky brothers and sisters and the Kentucky patients from across the Commonwealth.”
For months, the lawmaker worked to build support for the measure, which recently earned the endorsement of Senate Judiciary Chairman Whitney Westerfield (R), who said earlier she will support the House bill, despite her personal reservations regarding the marijuana reform.
What’s In It
HB 136 seeks to establish a program that would prohibit both home cultivation of marijuana and the smoking of cannabis flower. Whole-plant products would be allowed under the bill, but patients would be required to vaporize them.
Patients can register for a medical marijuana certificate if they are being treated for the following conditions: cancer, epilepsy and seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, PTSD, chronic nausea and cyclical vomiting as well as chronic, severe, intractable or debilitating pain.
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The measure would also allow physician assistants to apply for certifications to recommend cannabis. It will give licensing boards permission to “intervene” if a doctor is impaired by cannabis and revise language related to fees for authorization to recommend medical marijuana and provide “medicinal cannabis consultation services to cardholders.”
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.
