General Assembly to Take Up Medical Marijuana

[Jim Finnel]

RICHMOND, VA - You may remember, the big story to come out of last year's General Assembly session was the smoking ban. This year, lawmakers will debate another piece of smoking legislation, but it has nothing to do with tobacco.

Delegate Harvey Morgan, a Republican from the 98th district, is introducing legislation that would give more patients access to medical marijuana, as long as they had a doctor's prescription. In the 1970's, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill allowing only cancer and glaucoma patients to have access.

However, Morgan's bill, like the 1970's law, will be largely symbolic.

That's because federal law still prohibits the prescribing, dispensing, or use of medical marijuana because it's classified as a powerful drug.

Morgan says federal law would have to change, to make Virginia's law technically legal. "We can't do it legally until the federal government releases it from the category 1 or schedule 1 classification."

Morgan says he wants a law on the books in Virginia in case the federal government changes its laws on medical marijuana in the future.


NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: wtvr.com
Author: Tracy Sears
Copyright: 2010 WTVR
Contact: WTVR
Website: GA to Take Up Medical Marijuana - wtvr

 

[farmboy420]

I am from Virginia and know Morgan personally but now live in California, My parents who are conservative said "he must have smoked some and lost his mind" , on the other hand my uncle has been a Sheriff for 28 years and says make it legal, he's tired of wasting his time with pot smokers...just like he says people are going to do it legal or not....I had a friend that just went to federal prison for 4 yrs for growing over 5 lbs and got caught....thats pretty backward...glad I live in So Cal.