An official panel created by the Alabama legislature is recommending that the state legalize medical cannabis. Twelve of the 18 members of the Medical Cannabis Study Commission voted on Friday to support the passage of a bill that would establish a medical cannabis program for qualifying patients. Three members of the group voted against the recommendation, while three others opted to abstain.
The panel was established earlier this year, after the Senate approved a bill in May to legalize cannabis for therapeutic purposes. But the legislation was watered down to simply create the study commission after it became clear there was no path to passage for the broader proposal in the House of Representatives.
“Members of the Study Commission brought diverse perspectives to the group and provided various opinions on the use of cannabis to treat the symptoms of medical conditions and the broader topic of cannabis use in general,” reads a report that the panel released. “Based on the presentations and discussions, the Study Commission found that, although some medical study results are inconclusive and some results are mixed, there is strong scientific evidence that both hemp and cannabis contain compounds that provide significant relief for symptoms of certain specified medical conditions.”
The draft bill approved by the study committee calls for the creation of an Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission—an 11-member agency that would be responsible for licensing businesses and tracking the medical cannabis system from “seed-to-sale.”
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