Alabama Senator: Women must prove they are not pregnant to purchase medical marijuana

By Maureen Meehan

Alabama State Senator Larry Stutts (R) introduced a bill this week that would require women “of childbearing age” to provide proof that they are not pregnant in order to purchase medicinal cannabis products.

If passed, the law would amend Alabama’s 2021 medical marijuana law to require dispensaries to require women between the ages of 25 and 50 to “provide a negative pregnancy test either from their physician or documentation from a certified medical laboratory ordered by a physician.” was licensed in Alabama.”

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Marijuana Moment, which first reported this story, noted that records must be dated within 48 hours of purchase before a woman can purchase medicinal cannabis, and that women who are breastfeeding are also barred from purchasing medicinal cannabis products.

“Any registered qualified patient who becomes pregnant must report her pregnancy status to her registered certifying physician and must not receive medicinal cannabis during pregnancy,” the legislation reads.

Emma Roth, an attorney with National Advocates For Pregnant Women (NAPW), told Marijuana Moment that the bill “would violate women’s rights to privacy and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.

“It’s another attempt to monitor the pregnancy on behalf of the fetus, when medical marijuana isn’t doing more harm than other common exposures during pregnancy,” Roth said. “And where would the reach of the state end? Would a negative pregnancy test be required to be with smokers, drink coffee, or work in a factory?”

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Roth also cited a 2020 scientific report concluding that “current evidence does not suggest that prenatal cannabis exposure alone is associated with clinically significant cognitive dysfunction.”

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“Yes, the marijuana law is law now, but if we want that to be law, we need to set some parameters,” Stutts said on a local radio talk show. “I think it can be improved, and one of the ways it can be improved is to limit its use by pregnant people and limit their availability to it.” Pregnant?

As Jane Austen wrote in Persuasion: ‘I hate hearing you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies and not rational creatures. None of us want to spend our entire lives in calm waters.” Some of us might not want to be in Alabama, either.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.