The second Alabama House Committee moves the medical cannabis bill forward. However, it could be weeks before the bill’s vote in the full chamber. SB 46 received approval from the Senate at the end of February and will now receive a House vote. A couple of weeks ago, SB 46 received approval from the House Judiciary Committee with the addition of 10 amendments that covered various items of interest. Now it passed the House Health Committee with more amendments attached to it.

New Amendments

Some of the amendments made include:

• Three medical conditions saw removal from the qualifying list:
  • Anxiety
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Menopause
• Two medical conditions became added to the qualifying list:
  • Depression
  • Parkinson’s Disease
• There will be an annual registration fee for physicians who recommend cannabis to their patients
  • A four hour long continued education course with an exam for a total cost of $500. Physicians must take a refresher course every two years. Right now the cost of the refresher course is unknown.
• The number of institutes eligible for cannabis research grants expanded
• Dispensaries will need 24 hour security cameras at all times
• Product labels must have a warning label that says cannabis can cause drowsiness.
• A nine percent gross process tax would apply to all medical cannabis sales
• The Attorney General’s Office would have access to the patient registry database
• Develop a uniform flavor for all cannabis products.
  • This way one won’t ‘tastes’ better than another and lose association with cannabis. 

General Response

Some activists are upset over the removal of three conditions from the qualifying list. However activists are more concerned over medical cannabis consumption. As written, SB 46 prohibits taking raw cannabis, smoking, vaping, candies, or baked goods with cannabis in them. Patients must consume medical cannabis in capsules, lozenges, oils, topical patches, or suppositories. This severely limits the benefits of cannabis in patients, activists are saying. 

More outcry goes to House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R). He announced the medical cannabis bill won’t be heard in the House until the end of the session. That’s the middle of May. Representative Mike Ball (R), who is representing SB 46 during its time in the House, says that there is cause for concern for pushing back the medical cannabis bill so late. 

“If we wait until toward the end, maybe that will give more time for the truth to come out about what it is and what it isn’t. This is medical, not recreational,” Representative Ball said in a recent interview. 

Future

Lawmakers and activists want SB 46 heard earlier than the last week of the session. But Speaker McCutcheon stands firm, saying the state’s budget, which is also on the House’s to-do list, needs discussion first. 

“We’re looking at getting the budgets on the floor somewhere around the 27th of April,” Speaker McCutcheon said. “And so we want to get those out of the way, and then we’ll address the marijuana after that.”

It doesn’t appear that SB 46 will be heard before then. But, it’s on the table and hopefully will be discussed before the session ends like previous years. There’s also pressure on lawmakers to approve medical cannabis as neighboring state Mississippi saw huge voter approval for a medical cannabis measure. 

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