Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
For the first time, medical marijuana will be available in Tennessee after a bill allowing cannabis oil as an alternative medicine for seizure patients passed the Tennessee House and Senate with unanimous yes votes Monday night.
For families of seizure patients who have been relentlessly advocating the legislature since the bill was introduced, the passage of the bills was a cause for celebration.
"It was a feeling of great joy from all the families and we gathered in the hall with hugs and tears of joy," said Ellen McCall, a Greeneville mother who advocated for the bill to help her seizure stricken daughter, Penelope. "We had an idea that we would have at least the minimum amount of votes we would need for it to pass, but we weren't expecting to get that many."
The bill redefined marijuana by removing the requirement that cannabis oil containing cannabidiol and less than nine-tenths of 1 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol be transferred, dispensed, possessed or administered as part of a clinical research study to be in legal possession.
CBD oil contains less than 1 percent of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana which gets users high.
McCall has attended every hearing of the bill in both the House and Senate. She said when the Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Becky Massey, R-Knoxville, came up for a vote, there were lots of questions from Senators about the legalities of the oil on a federal level.
She said the families were worried about all the questions being asked, but they all were addressed and when the final vote came, it was approved 26-0.
After the Senate vote, many of the families rushed over to the House to hear the vote on the CBD oil bill introduced by Rep. Jeremy Faison, R- Cosby. There were no comments or questions and most of the representatives applauded the families and gave them a standing ovation. It passed 95-0.
Rep. Bud Hulsey, a Republican representing Kingsport, praised the passage of the bill.
"I voted for it," he said. "I'm in favor for it. I wished they had passed it two years ago and there would be more children alive today."
Hulsey said he thinks the bill is a great deal and will help a whole lot of people affected by seizures.
He said the oil cannot be diverted for illegal purposes, as Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus worried might happen, because the THC content was so low. He said police departments would probably need some in-depth training to identify the oil.
But he said the oil should be labeled like a prescription and it would be held to the same standards as having a prescription medicine as far as making sure the person who has it should have it.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has 10 days to sign the bill before it becomes law.
McCall said as soon as he does, she will be getting CBD oil for Penelope.
"Tennessee will not be producing or selling it, so we will be getting it out of state," she said. "We have chosen to use the Charlotte's Web strain out of Colorado and it is sold through a non-profit agency called Realm of Caring and we will also join their research study they have."
As more research is done, a clearer picture of the medicinal value of CBD oil is coming into focus.
According to a preliminary study released this week by Dr. Orrin Devinsky of New York University's Langone Medical Center, CBD oil reduced seizures by more than 50 percent in children and young adults with the most intractable forms of epilepsy.
The open label study had 213 people with a dozen types of sever epilepsy and saw between 53 percent and 55 percent reductions in seizures. Devinsky said the findings need to be further tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled studies with a larger population of patients.
Now seizure patients in Tennessee will be allowed to take CBD oil to see if it works them.
For the families all across the state who have advocated for this bill, Monday's vote was a culmination of all the hard work they put in over the past few months.
"I want to thank everyone who supported us through this journey and for helping us educate the state of Tennessee about CBD oil," McCall said. "It's been an emotional roller coaster for sure. And thank you to the Tennessee state legislators for supporting this bill."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Families praise passage of cannabis oil bill | Kingsport Times-News
Author: Nick Shephard
Contact: nshepherd@timesnews.net
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Kingsport Times-News
For families of seizure patients who have been relentlessly advocating the legislature since the bill was introduced, the passage of the bills was a cause for celebration.
"It was a feeling of great joy from all the families and we gathered in the hall with hugs and tears of joy," said Ellen McCall, a Greeneville mother who advocated for the bill to help her seizure stricken daughter, Penelope. "We had an idea that we would have at least the minimum amount of votes we would need for it to pass, but we weren't expecting to get that many."
The bill redefined marijuana by removing the requirement that cannabis oil containing cannabidiol and less than nine-tenths of 1 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol be transferred, dispensed, possessed or administered as part of a clinical research study to be in legal possession.
CBD oil contains less than 1 percent of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana which gets users high.
McCall has attended every hearing of the bill in both the House and Senate. She said when the Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Becky Massey, R-Knoxville, came up for a vote, there were lots of questions from Senators about the legalities of the oil on a federal level.
She said the families were worried about all the questions being asked, but they all were addressed and when the final vote came, it was approved 26-0.
After the Senate vote, many of the families rushed over to the House to hear the vote on the CBD oil bill introduced by Rep. Jeremy Faison, R- Cosby. There were no comments or questions and most of the representatives applauded the families and gave them a standing ovation. It passed 95-0.
Rep. Bud Hulsey, a Republican representing Kingsport, praised the passage of the bill.
"I voted for it," he said. "I'm in favor for it. I wished they had passed it two years ago and there would be more children alive today."
Hulsey said he thinks the bill is a great deal and will help a whole lot of people affected by seizures.
He said the oil cannot be diverted for illegal purposes, as Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus worried might happen, because the THC content was so low. He said police departments would probably need some in-depth training to identify the oil.
But he said the oil should be labeled like a prescription and it would be held to the same standards as having a prescription medicine as far as making sure the person who has it should have it.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has 10 days to sign the bill before it becomes law.
McCall said as soon as he does, she will be getting CBD oil for Penelope.
"Tennessee will not be producing or selling it, so we will be getting it out of state," she said. "We have chosen to use the Charlotte's Web strain out of Colorado and it is sold through a non-profit agency called Realm of Caring and we will also join their research study they have."
As more research is done, a clearer picture of the medicinal value of CBD oil is coming into focus.
According to a preliminary study released this week by Dr. Orrin Devinsky of New York University's Langone Medical Center, CBD oil reduced seizures by more than 50 percent in children and young adults with the most intractable forms of epilepsy.
The open label study had 213 people with a dozen types of sever epilepsy and saw between 53 percent and 55 percent reductions in seizures. Devinsky said the findings need to be further tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled studies with a larger population of patients.
Now seizure patients in Tennessee will be allowed to take CBD oil to see if it works them.
For the families all across the state who have advocated for this bill, Monday's vote was a culmination of all the hard work they put in over the past few months.
"I want to thank everyone who supported us through this journey and for helping us educate the state of Tennessee about CBD oil," McCall said. "It's been an emotional roller coaster for sure. And thank you to the Tennessee state legislators for supporting this bill."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Families praise passage of cannabis oil bill | Kingsport Times-News
Author: Nick Shephard
Contact: nshepherd@timesnews.net
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Kingsport Times-News
