RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — If you’re in pain and think medical marijuana might ease your symptoms, Senate Bill 3 might help — if your illness is specified in the bill and you follow a procedure strict to obtain an order.
The so-called Compassionate Care Act – passed by the Senate on Wednesday and apparently getting a favorable opinion in the House – details whether your condition can be treated legally by a variety of cannabis products and how you can do so. .
“The main thing we’re trying to do by bringing this bill forward is to offer relief to the people of North Carolina,” said Sen. Paul Lowe (D-Winston-Salem) who sponsored and presented the bill alongside state senators Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) and Mike Lee (R-New Hanover). I think that’s what this bill does. It’s not everything, but it does. »
State Representative Pricey Harrison (D-Greensboro) said Wednesday that she has long supported medical marijuana, but she said it was a conversation with her sister’s oncologist that made this clear. point. Her sister died of brain cancer.
“I’ll never forget how his oncologist made me realize the need to legalize medical marijuana,” Harrison said. “He was a firm believer that patients seeking relief should not be treated like criminals.”
Cancer is one of the 15 diseases identified in the bill. Some critics have suggested that there is not enough evidence that medical marijuana is effective for some of them, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder – or PTSD – and that diagnosis has stricter requirements. .
The full list
The full list of approved conditions for processing cannabis in SB 3 are:
- Cancer.
- Epilepsy.
- Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
- Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – also called Lou Gehrig’s disease.
- Crohn’s disease.
- Sickle cell anemia.
- Parkinson’s disease.
- PTSD, subject to evidence that a candidate has experienced one or more traumatic events. Acceptable evidence includes, but is not limited to, proof of military service in an active combat zone, that the person was the victim of a violent or sexual crime, or that the person was a first responder. Details of the trauma will not be required.
- Multiple sclerosis.
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome.
- Severe or persistent nausea in a person who is not pregnant and related to end-of-life or palliative care, or who is bedridden or housebound due to illness.
- A terminal illness when the patient’s remaining life expectancy is less than six months.
- A condition requiring the person to receive palliative care.
- Any other serious medical condition or its treatment added by the Compassionate Use Advisory Board, as provided in GS 90-113.113. 3.
These conditions must be diagnosed by a physician who has undergone training for the certifications required by the bill.
Products
Cannabis is described in the bill as marijuana within the meaning of current law, a cannabis-infused product (like edibles) that is “intended for use or consumption other than by inhalation, smoking or vaping.” .
This includes “tablets, capsules, concentrated liquid or viscous oil, liquid suspension, topical preparation, transdermal preparation, sublingual preparation, gelatinous cube, gelatinous rectangular cuboid, cube or rectangular cuboid, resin or wax.
Doctor’s advice
The bill specifies that a patient must have a “good faith relationship” with a physician who is licensed under state law and in good standing, with a valid DEA registration, and who has completed continuing medical education as required by law.
There can be no “doctor buy” for this prescription. The physician should assess the patient’s medical history, review prescription usage history through the Controlled Substance Reporting System, and perform an in-person assessment of the patient’s current condition.
There must also be plans for follow-up evaluations to determine if cannabis has been effective in treatment.
Physician Requirements
There’s a long section in the bill that outlines the requirements for physicians that are extensive, and it explains how, before prescribing cannabis to a patient, a physician “must complete a 10-hour continuing medical education course on the prescription of medical cannabis”.
This would be followed by 3 hours of additional training each year he or she wrote a prescription for cannabis.