Washington D.C. Council members is pushing forward with a plan to dramatically expand the amount of conditions that qualify a patient for medical marijuana. Right now there is a very short list of approvable conditions to qualify for D.C.’s medical marijuana program. If/When the changes are adopted, it would be solely up to a doctor to determine if a patient qualifies for medical marijuana. Per the Washington Post:
D.C. Council members pressed forward with plans to broadly expand access to medical marijuana in the nation’s capital Thursday, drawing praise from residents suffering from an array of conditions that they say should qualify them for legal use of the plant.
Under legislation that all 13 council members have pledged to support, the bill would strike from D.C. law a narrow list of four conditions — including AIDS and spasms — that qualify residents to apply for the legal purchase of marijuana. New guidelines would leave it up to D.C. doctors to decide whether a patient might benefit from marijuana.
Washington D.C. has been in the news a lot lately for marijuana reform. Recently the Washington D.C. Council voted to decriminalize marijuana possession, making it a mere $25 fine for low level marijuana possession. That is arguably the best marijuana decriminalization law in the country, although it’s still awaiting approval from Congress, but is expected to go into effect soon. There is also a marijuana legalization campaign gathering signatures in Washington D.C.. I’m encouraging all readers to make a donation to the campaign. You can donate to the D.C. campaign here.
Doctors should be the decision makers when it comes to determining whether or not someone needs medical marijuana. Why politicians and law enforcement feel that they are better qualified to make that decision is beyond me. Doctors know their patients, and know medicine. Law enforcement is not qualified in anyway to determine what medicine is appropriate for a patient. And politicians…well, they are not qualified to do anything at all as far as I can tell!
