By John Payne
With the end of Missouri’s legislative session rapidly approaching on May 15, the General Assembly will pass bills very rapidly for the next few weeks. Yesterday, legislators gave cannabis law reformers two reasons to celebrate when each house of the General Assembly passed a reform bill.
First, on Thursday morning, the Senate took up SB 386 to expand the state’s CBD oil program. Currently, CBD oil can be recommended in Missouri, but only by a neurologist for patients suffering from intractable epilepsy.
This bill will allow all doctors to recommend CBD for a number of qualifying conditions, including — but not limited to — chronic pain, post traumatic stress disorder, non-epileptic seizures, and gastrointestinal conditions such as Crohn’s Disease. It would also increase the number of cultivators in the state from two to ten, phased in over the next few years. The Senate passed this pro-patient legislation by a vote of 26 to 8, and it will now head to the House of Representatives where we hope it will meet with similar support!
Then, on Thursday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted on HB 830, which would legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp, and passed it by a margin of 104 in favor to 41 opposed. This bill will allow Missouri’s farmers to utilize our well-suited soil and climate to grow a crop that is used to make nearly $600 million in consumer goods in this country every year.
However, neither bill is law yet. Both still require approval from the other house of the General Assembly and, if they approved there, they will head to Governor Nixon. Once a bill reaches the governor, he has three basic options: sign it into law, veto it, or do nothing and allow it to become law without his signature.
Still, passing two bills out of their respective houses in a single day is no small feat, and it was unthinkable just a couple years ago. We feel very good about the prospects for both of these bills, but we cannot become complacent. Help us push these bills across the finish line by making a contribution of $25 or $50 today!
Source: Show-Me Cannabis
