Representative Tom Trail proposed bill HB 370 on January 17, 2012. This bill would join seventeen other states in allowing the legal use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. This debate has raged for years across the country, with 33 states still uncomfortable with the idea of changing the state status on restricted usage of marijuana.
A section of the “Idaho Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act” states:
39-4702. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. (1) Modern medical research has
discovered a beneficial use for marijuana in treating or alleviating the pain
or other symptoms associated with certain debilitating medical conditions,
as found by the national academy of sciences institute of medicine in March
29 1999;
Another section states:
(5) Many patients with severe chronic medical conditions are prescribed
costly addictive drugs such as morphine and oxycodone, which can
result in additional negative impacts to the health of the patient. The use
of medical marijuana can provide significant pain relief to the patient and
at the same time be a major cost savings to the patient, their families and
the state.
Since marijuana in any form is still considered against federal law, the proposal goes on to explain that a state can have a law providing for something to be legal and not be required to arrest people for breaking the federal law. There are rules proposed that would require patients to register with the State of Idaho, and that would stipulate who could grow and dispense the marijuana. The 13 page HB 370 would allow patients with “debilitating medical conditions” to receive up to 2 oz of marijuana every 28 days, which they would have to obtain from a state-authorized “alternative treatment center.”
Rep. Trail is proposing this for the second year in a row as a “personal bill.” Personal bills can be proposed during the first few weeks of the Idaho Legislature’s session without having gone through a committee first. After being introduced, they are assigned to a committee for a possible hearing.
No doubt a lot of discussion lies ahead.
