Tennessee lawmakers Wednesday approved a medical marijuana bill that would allow Tennesseans with certain medical conditions to obtain and use the substance.
The bill was approved 9-2 by the Criminal Justice committee to allow sufferers of around a dozen chronic and serious medical conditions to avoid prosecution for having medical marijuana if they have a doctor’s prescription or a medical card from another state to use it, The Tennessean reported.
An earlier version of the bill was voted down last week, which would have allowed people to get medical cards in other states in order to use medical cannabis in Tennessee.
Supporters and those who opposed the bill gave testimony Wednesday prior to the vote. Advocate Andrea Houser, a mother of two, said her severe seizures from epilepsy were stopped after she began using medical marijuana illegally in the state, Fox 17 reported.
Houser said she stopped using the illegal drug because she was uncomfortable with breaking the law, but the seizures came back. The medication she could legally take caused 19 kidney stones as a side effect, Houser said, Fox 17 reported.
“I would rather be illegally alive than legally dead,” Houser said, Fox 17 reported.
Some law enforcement and health professionals objected to the medical marijuana bill, fearing that loosened restrictions would lead to more impaired driving for those using the drug.
“Once you start down this slope, it is very difficult to stop the ball from rolling,” Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Tracy Trott warned, The Tennessean said.
Advocates said the bill could help the opioid crisis by providing another way to handle pain that would not result in overdose and would lessen the need to take opioids, The Tennessean reported.
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