Robert Celt
New Member
One lawmaker wants to put warning labels on bottles of prescription marijuana. A bill would require labels to show possible side effects when using the drug. The bill did not make it out of committee Monday.
Even the chair of the Medical Marijuana Pilot Program, Lou Lang, said it's something to consider, but only after the pilot program is finished. Others say the measure is worth fighting for to protect others from misusing it.
"Legislation is way too broad. It doesn't define what the warning label will say, what kind of standardization it will have through the cultivation facilities in terms of putting the labels on it."
Chris Stone is the CEO of a marijuana dispensary in Springfield. Stone says he understands it could prevent others from misusing the product, but says his products already have labels.
"I would say most states, if not all all states, provide a warning on the product itself in a container or as a pharmacy does, they provide you a sticker that goes over the packaging."
But, the bill's sponsor, Dwight Kay (R), says the current warning labels do not go far enough.
"That there should be something saying, you know, the facts are different for males, different for females, and, by the way, can cause depression, anxiety, increased heart rate. It can cause lung disease."
Stone says his dispensaries, like most, have consultants waiting by to educate new patients about how to use the product and how it will make them feel.
"We do a lot of interaction with our patients and front of the display bays or to the consultation bays, but the consultation bays are also used fairly frequently."
During a debate on the measure, some lawmakers disagreed with the initiative.
"I see no difference than any other drug that you go to a doctor with and prescribes it to you and tells you the problems with it and gives you a full history and tells you how to use it."
Stone says the bill is too broad and his dispensary already provides education on products to his customers.
"This would be adding a third way, but the third way has already been provided by the Department of Agriculture's mandate on the cultivation groups to put warning labels on the actual products themselves anyway."
Currently, the law requires products shipped from a cultivation center to a dispensary have some sort of warning label. Some lawmakers say there still needs to be more preventable measures to keep them out of other people's hands.
Illinois is in its third year of a four-year pilot program. Medical marijuana sales began in November. Officials say retail sales of medical marijuana increased by 30% in the last month.
Illinois now has 32 registered dispensaries.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Illinois Lawmakers Reject Prescription Pot Warning Label
Author: Emilee Fannon
Contact: Illinois Homepage
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Illinois Homepage
Even the chair of the Medical Marijuana Pilot Program, Lou Lang, said it's something to consider, but only after the pilot program is finished. Others say the measure is worth fighting for to protect others from misusing it.
"Legislation is way too broad. It doesn't define what the warning label will say, what kind of standardization it will have through the cultivation facilities in terms of putting the labels on it."
Chris Stone is the CEO of a marijuana dispensary in Springfield. Stone says he understands it could prevent others from misusing the product, but says his products already have labels.
"I would say most states, if not all all states, provide a warning on the product itself in a container or as a pharmacy does, they provide you a sticker that goes over the packaging."
But, the bill's sponsor, Dwight Kay (R), says the current warning labels do not go far enough.
"That there should be something saying, you know, the facts are different for males, different for females, and, by the way, can cause depression, anxiety, increased heart rate. It can cause lung disease."
Stone says his dispensaries, like most, have consultants waiting by to educate new patients about how to use the product and how it will make them feel.
"We do a lot of interaction with our patients and front of the display bays or to the consultation bays, but the consultation bays are also used fairly frequently."
During a debate on the measure, some lawmakers disagreed with the initiative.
"I see no difference than any other drug that you go to a doctor with and prescribes it to you and tells you the problems with it and gives you a full history and tells you how to use it."
Stone says the bill is too broad and his dispensary already provides education on products to his customers.
"This would be adding a third way, but the third way has already been provided by the Department of Agriculture's mandate on the cultivation groups to put warning labels on the actual products themselves anyway."
Currently, the law requires products shipped from a cultivation center to a dispensary have some sort of warning label. Some lawmakers say there still needs to be more preventable measures to keep them out of other people's hands.
Illinois is in its third year of a four-year pilot program. Medical marijuana sales began in November. Officials say retail sales of medical marijuana increased by 30% in the last month.
Illinois now has 32 registered dispensaries.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Illinois Lawmakers Reject Prescription Pot Warning Label
Author: Emilee Fannon
Contact: Illinois Homepage
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Illinois Homepage
