Alabama medical marijuana: Legislature votes to legalize use
3 min read
The house version of SB 46 was passed in chamber on Thursday, with support from both parties between 68 and 34, after Republicans blocked a vote on the measure during a nearly nine-hour debate in the chamber on Tuesday evening. The Senate, which originally passed the measure in February, approved changes to the House’s legislation on Thursday evening by 20 votes to 9 with one abstention. The legislation now goes to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk for signature.
Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola told CNN in an email Thursday, “As with any law that reaches the governor’s desk, we look forward to a thorough review.”
“We appreciate the legislature’s debate on this issue,” continued Maiola. “This is certainly an emotional problem. We are sensitive to it and will give it the care it deserves.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Alabama would be the 37th state to approve medical marijuana.
House Legislation sponsor Republican Rep. Mike Ball, who opposed previous medical marijuana measures and said he changed his mind after researching the medical benefits, told CNN the bill could alter other people’s opinions change the state.
“It could make a statement about our compassion. It could make a statement that we are not completely closed to everything,” said Ball to open. … It just tells you that we are changing our minds about some things, it’s just a slow step. “
He also urged those who oppose medical marijuana legalization in the state to “open your heart, open your mind and listen to the other side”.
Republican MP Rich Wingo, who voted against the bill, told CNN on Thursday that he was afraid of how it would be distributed and packaged.
“They suggest chewable gum-type candy. I’d rather see them in a form that is the least appealing from a child’s point of view,” Wingo wrote in an email. “My point is anything that is less attractive to a child. A child could potentially see these gummies (left unattended) and think they were candy or daily vitamins.”
The move is also opposed beyond lawmakers by 23 district attorneys in Alabama, who wrote a letter to lawmakers in April urging lawmakers to oppose the bill, calling marijuana a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
Efforts to legalize medical marijuana use and revise marijuana laws in the state where recreational use is illegal have long been debated, including since 2005 when Democratic MP Laura Hall introduced medical marijuana legislation . The latest bill is called the Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act “after her son who died of AIDS.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
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