Virginia Medical Marijuana Oil Bill Advances in Senate

Virginia Senate members met recently to discuss a dying medical marijuana oil bill that would make it legal for qualifying patients to obtain the oil in-state. The bill is designed to help patients suffering from epilepsy obtain the oil as an alternative treatment to pharmaceuticals.

The meeting was called upon the Senate Courts of Justice Committee where the bill had been hanging for about a week, according to The Washington Post.

Some parents, admittedly, broke the law to obtain marijuana oils for their children. When the vote completed, helping the bill move forward, several parents cried tears of happiness.

Beth Collins said, “I have to be very creative and risk a lot,” referring to obtaining the marijuana oil.

Medical marijuana has been legal for patients with cancer and glaucoma in Virginia since 1979. The trouble with the law is that doctors in the state cannot provide prescriptions for medical marijuana under federal restrictions. Virginia law requires patients to obtain a valid prescription.

In 2015, legislation was passed to prevent prosecution for possession of the oils. The legislation did not, however, include provisions to provide patients with in-state access to the marijuana oil. In states where oils are legal for medical and/or recreational use, shipping across state lines is illegal, thus creating an additional level of difficulty for patients to obtain the medicine.

Provisions are in place to create a system to produce medical marijuana oils in-state beginning in 2017. Lawmakers and patients are pushing for the availability to be sooner rather than later as the regulatory process alone takes 280 days. Senator David W. Marsden said he “does not want to wait until the measure is reenacted next year.”