Tennesseas

[bobandtorey]

Medical Marijuana's Dramatic Rebound: How It Looked from the Inside

Posted by Jim Ridley on Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 12:51 PM

Thousands of Tennesseans suffering from cancer and other maladies — and thousands more of their families, spouses and loved ones — got a boost of hope when the House Health and Human Resources Committee voted Tuesday to send a proposed medical marijuana bill for further study by the State Board of Pharmacy.

 

It was a remarkable turn of events for the dogged citizens' coalition that has been pushing the Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act. (And not just because it seemed to slap the smirk off some of the state media covering the issue.) Just last week, the bill appeared on slippery footing as the same committee members voted 12-9 against the measure recommending study. This time, though, the measure passed with bipartisan support, with just four Republicans voting no.

 

What made the difference? According to Bernie Ellis, the voting-reform advocate who has emerged as a leader in Tennessee's medical-marijuana movement, it was a combination of factors — including hundreds of constituent emails bombarding legislators; an amendment adding the TBI and the Tennessee Sheriffs' Association to the study group; a lobbying effort that put representatives in touch with Tennesseans directly affected by the bill; and a full hearing three weeks ago that helped convince lawmakers the issue was both serious and urgent.

 

Above all, Ellis says, it was a meeting between two men that made the difference: John Donovan, a 25-year-old Red Bank, Tenn. resident who began suffering at age 16 from juvenile-onset rheumatoid arthritis — a condition portrayed movingly in a widely read Chattanooga Times Free Press article — and Rep. Joey Hensley, the Republican MD from Hohenwald who chairs the committee.

 

 

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Good find,

 

Looks like it might be another lip service bill though. It would make it available through Pharmacies. Even if the law is passed it might take years before any is delivered to patients.