Alabama House OKs legalizing medical marijuana

From The Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama:

House legislative committee approved a bill April 7 that would legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the bill's sponsor said a vote by the full Alabama Legislature is unlikely this session.

The bill would legalize marijuana for use in easing symptoms of such diseases and disabilities as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

The bill is called the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act, named after a man who had a brain tumor that caused frequent seizures and who fought to make medical marijuana legal. Philips died in 2007 at the age of 38.

Jackie Phillips, Michael Phillips' mother, said marijuana was the only thing that made him able to function normally.

Without it, she said, he had seven or eight seizures a day.

"I could see the difference in him when he smoked and when he didn't," Phillips said.

Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, the bill's sponsor, said she would like to see the bill passed this session but acknowledged that that was unlikely with only five days remaining.

"I know this is not an easy bill to come forth and vote for," Todd told the committee. "My intent is to help people who are hurting."

Under the bill, patients with diseases treatable with marijuana would be able to buy it in small amounts from licensed
clinics or grow it at their homes.

Patients would be required to have an identification card to purchase and possess marijuana.

Ronald Crumpton of Pelham was one of the supporters of the bill who was on hand at the State House on Wednesday.

Crumpton uses a wheelchair because of a back condition and has been prescribed multiple medicines.

The harmful effects of marijuana would be less, he said, than the effects of daily use of multiple prescription drugs such as Percocet and Valium.

John Radvillas of Cullman said marijuana also could replace some of the medications he currently takes for multiple sclerosis, some of which cost up to $2,000 a month.

You don't have to use enough marijuana to get high in order to control symptoms such as ataxia, which makes it difficult to walk, Radvillas said.

"A very small amount (of marijuana) is all you need," he said.

Several members of the committee expressed concerns with the bill.

Rep. Yusuf Salaam, D-Selma, said he worries that the bill would make it possible for people to use marijuana illegally under the pretense of using it medically.

Salaam also said he fears legalization of medical marijuana would open a "Pandora's box" and lead to more widespread legalization of the drug.

Some questioned how the state would pay for the added costs of regulating the use of medical marijuana.

Republican Rep. Steve McMillan of Gulf Shores added an amendment to the bill that would make the fees for ID cards sufficient to cover the costs.

Rep. Spencer Collier, R-Bayou Le Batre, said he worries about the obstacles the bill could create for law enforcement agencies.

Collier added an amendment to the bill that law enforcement could presume that marijuana is being used illegally until it is proven otherwise.

Collier still voted not to approve the bill.

"I don't know if I can support this bill -- probably ever," he said.

Rep. John Robinson, D-Scottsboro, said he supports the bill but added that he believes medical marijuana should be "under the lock and key of law enforcement."

Randy Garrick of Whatley said marijuana is one of the only drugs that works to ease the chronic pain he suffers from disabilities he developed as a military veteran.

Garrick said that other medications made him disoriented and that one even caused heart arrythmia. Marijuana, he added, was more effective and without the side effects.

"I had an appetite. I could sleep. I knew who I was and what I was doing," Garrick said.

While it might have been effective, it also was illegal.

Garrick said he is now on probation for a marijuana arrest and no longer uses it. He now has been prescribed morphine, he added.

"I'm not happy about it, but it's the only thing I can take," he said.