Robert Celt
New Member
ore than once, the Legislature has dashed Deena Kenney's hopes that it would grant her autistic 19-year-old son the right to be prescribed medical marijuana to treat his epileptic seizures and violent outbursts.
There was the time in June 2014 that the Senate overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana bill and the House let it die. There was last spring, when the Senate approved it again and the House did nothing again. Then in the fall, the House canceled a scheduled vote on its amended version of the Senate bill.
"We are at our breaking point now honestly," said Kenney, of Bethlehem. "They've dragged their feet incredibly long."
The waiting could end this week for Kenney and other advocates who believe medicinal cannabis can save their loved ones from the ravages of disease and the horrors of possible addiction to opiate-based pharmaceuticals. The House is scheduled to vote on Monday on a Senate medical marijuana bill and more than 100 attached amendments.
But there is no guarantee the vote will go off as planned even though House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, has said it will. So Kenney and even lawmakers are leery of getting their hopes up too much.
"Honestly, we've become very, very unpredictable," said Rep. Nick Miccarelli, R-Delaware. "If it doesn't happen, I'll be inviting you to a press conference with a lot of loud, angry people."
"From everything I'm hearing, yes it's going to happen," said Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh. "Whether every one of the 100 amendments are going to be withdrawn or voted on, I can't answer that."
"Reed's spokesman, Steve Miskin, said a number of amendments likely will drop off.
If an amended bill is approved, it still would have a trek to become law. A vote on an amended bill would require a third and final vote on another day. If successful on the third vote, the bill would move back to the Senate for a vote. If the Senate approves it, Gov. Tom Wolf says he will sign it.
"I support the legalization of medical marijuana so we can finally provide much needed relief to families and children," Wolf said Friday. "It is time to legalize medical marijuana because we should not deny doctor-recommended treatment that could help people suffering from seizures or cancer patients affected by chemotherapy."
If it goes down as planned, the House will be voting on an amended version of Senate Bill 3, the Medical Cannabis Act, which the Senate passed in a 40-7 vote in May.
The Senate bill would set up a regulatory system that would allow health care providers to prescribe marijuana for more than a dozen "qualified medical conditions," including cancer, HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, seizures, Parkinson's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The bill would set up the State Board of Medical Cannabis Licensing within the Department of State to oversee up to 65 farmers who would buy a license to set up secure, indoor facilities to grow marijuana. An additional 65 licenses would be sold to processors who would turn the plant into "oil-based medical cannabis products." And 130 licenses would be sold to dispensers.
Each license would cost $50,000 plus annual renewal fees.
The bill also sets up civil and criminal penalties for anyone caught illegally growing, processing, distributing or dispensing marijuana. It estimates that up to 1.5 percent of Pennsylvania's 12.7 million residents would be eligible to receive medical marijuana.
After the Senate passed the bill, House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, an opponent of the bill, placed it in the Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Matt Baker, R-Tioga, who vowed never to hold a vote.
Baker's stance infuriated some lawmakers. By the time July rolled around, Miccarelli, a Pennsylvania National Guardsman, had enough of House rules that allow a chairman to hold up a bill in a committee despite bipartisan support for passage.
He publicly vowed to issue a so-called discharge resolution that would force the bill out of Baker's committee.
"You have to do what is right by the people of your district and to hell with the consequences," Miccarelli said.
To settle the discord, Reed created a bipartisan committee to develop a compromise bill and vowed to hold a vote on it.
"I would be happy with Senate Bill 3 as it is written and I think a majority of the members of the House would as well," Miccarelli said.
The Senate bill was not perfect and neither is the compromise bill, but the compromise is the better one, said Schweyer, who served on the House committee.
"Although it's not perfect, it is a good solution," he said.
The compromise bill lists most of the same ailments the Senate said should be treated, Schweyer said. But it has more flexibility on ailments, he said. The House version allows the licensing board to meet at least once annually to review, add, or subtract the number of ailments that can be treated based on available medical research.
"We don't want a bunch of Harrisburg legislators, none of whom are doctors, making decisions for patients," Schweyer said. "That's not our job."
In addition, he said, the House bill fixes a couple of mistakes in the Senate bill, which said in one part that patients could use medical marijuana through a vaporizer, in another part said they couldn't, he said.
The House bill also guarantees poor people can get medical marijuana. There is no point in passing a bill that would be so restrictive only wealthy people or a minute percentage of sick people can get it, Schweyer said.
"We never want to get in a situation like in New York and New Jersey, where medical marijuana is legal but it's so restrictive very few people are able to get their medicine," Schweyer said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Pennsylvania State House To Vote On Medical Marijuana Bill
Author: Steve Esack
Photo Credit: Diego Charlyn Sanchez
Website: The Morning Call
There was the time in June 2014 that the Senate overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana bill and the House let it die. There was last spring, when the Senate approved it again and the House did nothing again. Then in the fall, the House canceled a scheduled vote on its amended version of the Senate bill.
"We are at our breaking point now honestly," said Kenney, of Bethlehem. "They've dragged their feet incredibly long."
The waiting could end this week for Kenney and other advocates who believe medicinal cannabis can save their loved ones from the ravages of disease and the horrors of possible addiction to opiate-based pharmaceuticals. The House is scheduled to vote on Monday on a Senate medical marijuana bill and more than 100 attached amendments.
But there is no guarantee the vote will go off as planned even though House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, has said it will. So Kenney and even lawmakers are leery of getting their hopes up too much.
"Honestly, we've become very, very unpredictable," said Rep. Nick Miccarelli, R-Delaware. "If it doesn't happen, I'll be inviting you to a press conference with a lot of loud, angry people."
"From everything I'm hearing, yes it's going to happen," said Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh. "Whether every one of the 100 amendments are going to be withdrawn or voted on, I can't answer that."
"Reed's spokesman, Steve Miskin, said a number of amendments likely will drop off.
If an amended bill is approved, it still would have a trek to become law. A vote on an amended bill would require a third and final vote on another day. If successful on the third vote, the bill would move back to the Senate for a vote. If the Senate approves it, Gov. Tom Wolf says he will sign it.
"I support the legalization of medical marijuana so we can finally provide much needed relief to families and children," Wolf said Friday. "It is time to legalize medical marijuana because we should not deny doctor-recommended treatment that could help people suffering from seizures or cancer patients affected by chemotherapy."
If it goes down as planned, the House will be voting on an amended version of Senate Bill 3, the Medical Cannabis Act, which the Senate passed in a 40-7 vote in May.
The Senate bill would set up a regulatory system that would allow health care providers to prescribe marijuana for more than a dozen "qualified medical conditions," including cancer, HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, seizures, Parkinson's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The bill would set up the State Board of Medical Cannabis Licensing within the Department of State to oversee up to 65 farmers who would buy a license to set up secure, indoor facilities to grow marijuana. An additional 65 licenses would be sold to processors who would turn the plant into "oil-based medical cannabis products." And 130 licenses would be sold to dispensers.
Each license would cost $50,000 plus annual renewal fees.
The bill also sets up civil and criminal penalties for anyone caught illegally growing, processing, distributing or dispensing marijuana. It estimates that up to 1.5 percent of Pennsylvania's 12.7 million residents would be eligible to receive medical marijuana.
After the Senate passed the bill, House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, an opponent of the bill, placed it in the Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Matt Baker, R-Tioga, who vowed never to hold a vote.
Baker's stance infuriated some lawmakers. By the time July rolled around, Miccarelli, a Pennsylvania National Guardsman, had enough of House rules that allow a chairman to hold up a bill in a committee despite bipartisan support for passage.
He publicly vowed to issue a so-called discharge resolution that would force the bill out of Baker's committee.
"You have to do what is right by the people of your district and to hell with the consequences," Miccarelli said.
To settle the discord, Reed created a bipartisan committee to develop a compromise bill and vowed to hold a vote on it.
"I would be happy with Senate Bill 3 as it is written and I think a majority of the members of the House would as well," Miccarelli said.
The Senate bill was not perfect and neither is the compromise bill, but the compromise is the better one, said Schweyer, who served on the House committee.
"Although it's not perfect, it is a good solution," he said.
The compromise bill lists most of the same ailments the Senate said should be treated, Schweyer said. But it has more flexibility on ailments, he said. The House version allows the licensing board to meet at least once annually to review, add, or subtract the number of ailments that can be treated based on available medical research.
"We don't want a bunch of Harrisburg legislators, none of whom are doctors, making decisions for patients," Schweyer said. "That's not our job."
In addition, he said, the House bill fixes a couple of mistakes in the Senate bill, which said in one part that patients could use medical marijuana through a vaporizer, in another part said they couldn't, he said.
The House bill also guarantees poor people can get medical marijuana. There is no point in passing a bill that would be so restrictive only wealthy people or a minute percentage of sick people can get it, Schweyer said.
"We never want to get in a situation like in New York and New Jersey, where medical marijuana is legal but it's so restrictive very few people are able to get their medicine," Schweyer said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Pennsylvania State House To Vote On Medical Marijuana Bill
Author: Steve Esack
Photo Credit: Diego Charlyn Sanchez
Website: The Morning Call
