Sure, you just need to see your medical marijuana ID and a pregnancy test, please?

March ended on a high for the medical cannabis industry in Alabama. Republican Senator Larry Stutts introduced a bill to require negative pregnancy tests for women who need medicinal cannabis. This proposal drew backlash from cannabis users and advocates. The proposed legislation states that women in the medical cannabis program who are old enough to conceive must routinely take pregnancy tests and submit the results to cannabis dispensaries before they are allowed to make a purchase. Only patients with negative results are allowed to use medicinal cannabis.

All test results must be from recognized state medical institutions. The doctors responsible for this must be certified by the State Medical Association. The women affected by this bill range in age from 24 to 51 years. Growth Op reported that these women were required to submit the test results at least two days before dispensing the drugs.

cannabis and pregnancy

The nine months of pregnancy are a very delicate time. From the beginning to the end of this developmental process in the woman’s body, many factors must be taken into account in order for the baby to be born healthy and happy. This recent law eliminates the risk to a child’s well-being associated with cannabis use. The Growth Op says female cannabis users will submit their pregnancy results to the doctor in charge. Alabama’s licensed medical officer will use the results to determine whether or not the woman will be prohibited from using medicinal cannabis until the baby is born.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Larry Stutts, also included provisions to deny nursing or nursing mothers the ability to use or purchase cannabis-derived drugs or medicinal cannabis flower. Only those who are registered carers would be exempt from this proposed law. In addition, a distance of 305 meters between medical cannabis shops and childcare facilities, daycare centers, colleges and schools. This distance would be considered the “buffer zone”.

amendment of the constitution

Senator Stutts submitted this measure as a 2021 amendment to Alabama’s medicinal cannabis law. According to the law, women of childbearing age had the choice of having the test results presented by any doctor. The 2021 law also allows documentation of medical laboratories with operating licenses in Alabama.

According to Marijuana Moment, the new measure makes it mandatory to offer documentation about two days before purchase. This would be done whenever the lady is about to renew her prescription. Once a registered patient tests positive for pregnancy, a memo will be issued to ban her during pregnancy and most likely while breastfeeding. That’s a year and a few months without cannabis products.

National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) attorney Emma Roth mentioned that the bill was out of place. She said the only thing the bill would do was violate a woman’s right to privacy. Not to mention that women deserve equal protection under the 14th Amendment too. Her opinion is that women should be left alone to do what is appropriate for their children.

While Emma Roth may be on the right track, some lawmakers believe that the decision to use or not to use weed shouldn’t be left up to the mother without a law in place to do so. Additionally, Roth backed up her claim by stating that medical marijuana was never a threat during pregnancy. She said this measure is more or less the government’s way of monitoring pregnancies. Other solid points Roth made touched on how the government could prevent smokers from conducting their meetings near smokers. Or how to stop women from consuming caffeinated products or doing factory jobs.

More resistance

A 2020 study found no strong evidence that prenatal cannabis use or exposure is responsible for any significant loss of cognitive function in newborns. Civil rights activists and drug policy advocates have used studies like this to build a strong front against the proposed reforms.

Senator Stutts, however, maintains that women, particularly cannabis-using women of childbearing age between 24 and 51, need to be controlled. He suggests that men in positions of power are the best people to deal with these ladies. Speaking on a local radio show a few weeks ago, Stutts said current medical law does not set the right parameters and needs improvement. He further stated that restricting the availability of cannabis to pregnant women is one of the most important and result-oriented strategies to improve cannabis law.

Call for change in other states.

In 2018, Oklahoma attempted to adopt the use of pregnancy test results to clear women of childbearing age to purchase and use cannabis. The call for these tests was dropped a few months later. If the measure had been scaled up at the time, it would have been implemented in the same year.

Not long ago, Arizona sued a resident for taking cannabis-based medication while having a baby. Her offense has been labeled child neglect. In mid-2021, the National Advocates for Pregnant Women revealed that marijuana use had little or no impact on the health of expectant mothers and their babies. The brand cited peer-reviewed scientific research to get this right. According to the peer-reviewed report, cannabis is the least likely drug to harm or pose a major risk to mothers and unborn or newborn infants.

bottom line

Earlier last month, Stutts submitted the virtual form of the same bill. The reintroduction of the physical committee was addressed to another committee in the Senate. Stutt, who also works as an obstetrician, says it’s only appropriate that the chambers trust his judgment about pregnancy and prenatal care. However, Stutts has always been vocal about his dislike of cannabis reform, so it’s difficult to determine if this action is really necessary.

It would be best if more studies were conducted to give a detailed account of the effects of cannabis use and exposure on pregnant women and nursing mothers. Note that the law legalizing medicinal cannabis in Alabama is limited. Other reforms could make the bill permanent instead of focusing on unimportant parameters.

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