Robert Celt
New Member
Four out of five Sarpy County state senators voted April 5 to break a filibuster of a legislative bill that, if passed on a final vote, would have granted parents of epileptic children access to a marijuana-derived oil.
But it wasn't enough.
Only 30 of 49 senators voted to end debate on LB 643 and move it to a final vote. That was three votes short of the 33 votes needed to break a filibuster launched by senators who believed legalizing medical marijuana for the treatment of epilepsy and other chronic diseases might open the door to recreational use.
The bill also fell to concerns that marijuana-related medicines should go through the same federal approval process as any other medication.
The death of the bill proved deeply frustrating to Bellevue residents Shelley and Dominic Gillen, parents of 12-year-old Will, who suffers hundreds of epileptic seizures daily. They were among a contingent of parents with children similarly stricken who attended the vote and left frustrated, some of them in tears.
Shelley Gillen said it was clear the bill had the votes to pass if it made to a final vote, and that the inability to break the filibuster was disheartening.
Nevertheless, she said, supporters are planning a campaign to place the issue on the 2018 election ballot. The 2016 election is too close and therefore unrealistic, she said.
"The only way that could happen is if someone came forward with a million dollars," she said.
CBD oil has attracted national attention after accumulating an impressive record of dramatically reducing seizures among children for whom other medications have proved ineffective.
CBD oil is now legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
The bill proved resilient in the face of opposition from Gov. Pete Ricketts, Attorney General Doug Peterson and the Nebraska Medical Association, all of whom expressed reservations related to medical process or federal laws concerning the use of marijuana and its derivatives.
Sarpy County senators Tommy Garrett, Sue Crawford, Jim Smith and John Murante voted to send the bill to a final vote, although Crawford made it clear she would vote against final passage.
Sen. Bill Kintner, whose largely Cass County district includes a portion of southern Papillion, was the lone Sarpy County senator to vote to maintain the filibuster.
He said there is not yet a sufficient medical consensus about the usefulness or safety of CBD oil.
"Before you approve a medication you want to know exactly what it does, how it interacts with other drugs, how much you need to treat a particular illness," he said. "You need to know what illnesses it's effective against and which ones it isn't."
He said legalization is probable, but not before enough study has taken place.
"Legalization is going to have to come in an orderly fashion, when the Legislature feels it has enough information to set this up and do it right," he said.
Concerns about a conflict with federal law, voiced by some opponents, were addressed in the preamble to LB 643. Ninety-nine percent of marijuana arrests are made on the basis of state law, the preamble said, so changing state law to permit medical use would make arrest unlikely.
The bill would have required persons securing the oil to demonstrate a "bona fide" relationship with a medical provider, defined as consulting with the prescribing practitioner at least three times in the prior 90 days; to be suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV, hepatitis C, Lou Gehrig's disease, Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's or Nail-patella syndrome, or to be suffering from any medical condition that produces severe pain, nausea or seizures.
A fiscal analysis attached to the bill estimated the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would need about $2.4 million to create an administrative program governing the medical use of marijuana.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NE: Support From Sarpy Senators Can't Save Medical Marijuana Bill
Author: Eugene Curtin
Contact: Bellevue Leader
Photo Credit: CBD UK
Website: Bellevue Leader
But it wasn't enough.
Only 30 of 49 senators voted to end debate on LB 643 and move it to a final vote. That was three votes short of the 33 votes needed to break a filibuster launched by senators who believed legalizing medical marijuana for the treatment of epilepsy and other chronic diseases might open the door to recreational use.
The bill also fell to concerns that marijuana-related medicines should go through the same federal approval process as any other medication.
The death of the bill proved deeply frustrating to Bellevue residents Shelley and Dominic Gillen, parents of 12-year-old Will, who suffers hundreds of epileptic seizures daily. They were among a contingent of parents with children similarly stricken who attended the vote and left frustrated, some of them in tears.
Shelley Gillen said it was clear the bill had the votes to pass if it made to a final vote, and that the inability to break the filibuster was disheartening.
Nevertheless, she said, supporters are planning a campaign to place the issue on the 2018 election ballot. The 2016 election is too close and therefore unrealistic, she said.
"The only way that could happen is if someone came forward with a million dollars," she said.
CBD oil has attracted national attention after accumulating an impressive record of dramatically reducing seizures among children for whom other medications have proved ineffective.
CBD oil is now legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
The bill proved resilient in the face of opposition from Gov. Pete Ricketts, Attorney General Doug Peterson and the Nebraska Medical Association, all of whom expressed reservations related to medical process or federal laws concerning the use of marijuana and its derivatives.
Sarpy County senators Tommy Garrett, Sue Crawford, Jim Smith and John Murante voted to send the bill to a final vote, although Crawford made it clear she would vote against final passage.
Sen. Bill Kintner, whose largely Cass County district includes a portion of southern Papillion, was the lone Sarpy County senator to vote to maintain the filibuster.
He said there is not yet a sufficient medical consensus about the usefulness or safety of CBD oil.
"Before you approve a medication you want to know exactly what it does, how it interacts with other drugs, how much you need to treat a particular illness," he said. "You need to know what illnesses it's effective against and which ones it isn't."
He said legalization is probable, but not before enough study has taken place.
"Legalization is going to have to come in an orderly fashion, when the Legislature feels it has enough information to set this up and do it right," he said.
Concerns about a conflict with federal law, voiced by some opponents, were addressed in the preamble to LB 643. Ninety-nine percent of marijuana arrests are made on the basis of state law, the preamble said, so changing state law to permit medical use would make arrest unlikely.
The bill would have required persons securing the oil to demonstrate a "bona fide" relationship with a medical provider, defined as consulting with the prescribing practitioner at least three times in the prior 90 days; to be suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV, hepatitis C, Lou Gehrig's disease, Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's or Nail-patella syndrome, or to be suffering from any medical condition that produces severe pain, nausea or seizures.
A fiscal analysis attached to the bill estimated the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would need about $2.4 million to create an administrative program governing the medical use of marijuana.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NE: Support From Sarpy Senators Can't Save Medical Marijuana Bill
Author: Eugene Curtin
Contact: Bellevue Leader
Photo Credit: CBD UK
Website: Bellevue Leader
