Virginia Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Bill 40-0
The Virginia Senate unanimously voted to pass the Joint Commission on Health Care bill SB 726 on Monday. The bill will let Virginia doctors decide whether they wish to recommend the use of cannabidiol or THC-A oil to patients needed treatment for any diagnosed condition or disease.
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Last Friday, Virginia also passed a companion bill, HB 1251 in the Virginia House of Delegates. The companion bill was also passed unanimously.
Regular Virginians suffering from a variety of conditions — including cancer, Crohn's disease, and PTSD – have lobbied passionately for this reform.
“I finally decided that I needed to advocate for the physicians being the decision makers,” said Senator Siobhan Dunnavant, the chief patron of the Senate bill. “We, physicians, are the ones that follow the literature and know which treatments are best for different conditions. The literature on medical cannabis is going to be evolving rapidly now, and because of this, it is not a decision that should be in the hands of the legislature. Instead, it should be with physicians.”
Virginia is following a motto to ‘let doctors decide’. Lawmakers have spoken out on the importance of letting doctors in the state of Virginia do what they do best and prescribe the medicine they feel will best benefit the patient.
“CBD/THC-A oil has been proven to effectively and safely help patients address symptoms of intractable epilepsy and manage pain,” said Delegate Cline, the chief patron for the House bill. “By expanding the ability to recommend CBD/THC-A oil, we are giving doctors the freedom to make a recommendation based on the most up to date research and data, just as they do for any other medication they prescribe."
Lawmakers believe that the new bill passed by the Virginia Senate will offer suffering Virginians the chance to heal in their home state with the medicine they need. Many people in states where no medical marijuana program is available currently find themselves traveling to other states in order to obtain the medicine they desperately need.