For some states, medical marijuana is not as popular of a subject as others – and for Wisconsin, it’s been relatively untouched aside from a 2014 bill that exempted patients with seizure conditions and a doctor’s recommendation from arrest for possessing or using CBD oil. Unfortunately that bill did little to help patients with seizures and nothing at all to help the many other patients who would benefit from medical marijuana. This year they are making another attempt at passing a CBD bill that would legalize the possession and use of cannabidiol for patients with a doctor’s written recommendation.
A similar bill was introduced last year in the Assembly and passed – but it never made it out of the Senate. This bill was actually introduced in the Senate and was approved with a 31-1 vote, with the lone naysayer being a Republican Senator by the name of Duey Stroebel. While this bill will open up access to non-psychoactive CBD oil to patients beyond those with seizure conditions, many find that cannabis products with both CBD and THC are more beneficial for most conditions – meaning that those this law will help are still significantly limited compared to patients in other medical marijuana states.
“If we had done this when the debate first started, it would have cut out four years of suffering for those kids, four years of anguish for those parents,” said Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
While it is likely that this bill will pass in the Assembly, considering a similar bill made it through last year, there are still too many flaws in the way it is written. Not only do CBD-only laws limit the number of suffering patients that can legally benefit from medical marijuana, but many – including this one – don’t create a legal way for patients to access this medicine once a doctor approves it for them in a written recommendation.
This bill would not create in-state production or sale of CBD oil – and the import from other states is technically illegal on a federal level – so no matter how patients or caregivers go about it, they are still taking a legal risk just to obtain their medicine. However, while this bill does not go as far as it really needs to, it is at the very least a start. It will give many parents and patients the comfort of knowing at least part of the risk in using their preferred method of treatment has been taken away. It’s unfortunate that for so many patients all over the world, the biggest risk of medicating with medical cannabis is legal, not physical.
