Medicinal Cannabis Bill Passes Kentucky Senate Committee

On March 14, Senate Bill 47 was reviewed in the Senate Licensing & Occupations Committee by an 8-3 vote, which now moves forward to the Senate.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Stephen West, spoke at the meeting. “I had no intention of ever dealing with medical marijuana or getting involved with the subject,” West explained. He added that two Mason County advocates, Eric and Michelle Crawford, inspired him to delve deeper into medicinal cannabis and its potential benefits.

West reviewed the law, as amended, allowing medicinal cannabis for patients with “any type of cancer regardless of stage, chronic, severe, intractable or debilitating pain, epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity, chronic nausea or cyclic.” Vomiting, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and then we recently added one, any other medical condition or illness for which the Kentucky Center for Cannabis is appropriate.”

Although smoking cannabis would be prohibited, raw cannabis for vaping would be allowed. Growing cannabis for personal use would also not be allowed. The scheme would be administered by the Health and Family Services Cabinet and regulations would be finalized by January 1, 2025.

“I know it’s been a long road to this committee and I want to commend you for your vigilance and this law,” responded committee chairman John Schnickel. “I have worked with you and people who have carried this bill before them for years. And you are an example to all of us in the classroom and the way you approach a controversial subject that people are passionate about both ways.

The committee also heard from longtime attorney Eric Crawford, who became quadriplegic in the 1990s when he was involved in a car accident that broke his neck in three places. Crawford acknowledged the power and necessity of cannabis to improve his quality of life. “Here I am in the Kentucky state capital, wearing a tie, trying to make medicinal cannabis legal for sick people. Medicinal cannabis relaxes my persistent, uncontrollable, violent muscle spasms. Medicinal cannabis relieves my constant, never-ending pain. Hemp helps me. I’ve been paralyzed for almost 30 years, I know what’s best for me. I don’t want to be high, I just want to feel better,” Crawford told the committee.

In March 2022, the Kentucky House passed House Bill 136, which would have legalized medicinal cannabis. However, it stalled in the Senate, so the proponents decided to start with this Senate session. Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer has been opposed to medicinal cannabis for some time and remains an obstacle to the movement. In January, he expressed that medicinal cannabis is a gateway to legalizing recreational activities. “I’ve been hearing about it for years. I know my constituents are for it, but this is a republic and they are voting for us to go to Frankfurt and make decisions on their behalf,” Thayer said. “If you don’t like it, you can take it out on me in the next election.” Recently, NORML called Thayer to himself and asked him to support the will of the people and “do the work you were elected to do.

Back in November 2022, Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order allowing patients access to medical cannabis and Delta-8. His decree went into effect on January 1, 2023, but only through legislation can full legalization of medicinal cannabis become a reality. “The executive order will not make anyone on the medical marijuana frontline comfortable. It will make sure they are not criminals,” Beshear said in January. “And those are the limitations that I have in executive power and the limitations that other states have put in place when we don’t have our own full program. And that’s why it’s so important for lawmakers to step up and pass medical marijuana.”