The average person in North Carolina probably doesn’t know about the Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate.
Just know that the state Senate subcommittee is where North Carolina’s medical marijuana bill stalled last year. Next week, North Carolina lawmakers are set to reconvene and could consider legalizing medical marijuana.
State lawmakers don’t actually call the legislation the “medical marijuana bill.” The last action on Senate Bill 711 — also known as the “NC Compassionate Care Act” — came in August 2021.
It is a bit ironic that SB 711 has the same number as the popular convenience store 7-Eleven, which feels like an Easter egg considering how often the chain sells munchies.
SB 711 would let physicians provide written certification for the use of marijuana to ease the symptoms of the following conditions – hence the “compassion” part of the title:
- Cancer
- Epilepsy
- HIV/AIDS
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Crohn’s disease
- Sickle cell anemia
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Severe or persistent nausea “related to end-of-life or hospice care,” or in someone who is bedridden or homebound
- A terminal illness when the patient’s remaining life expectancy is less than six months
- Any condition when the patient is in hospice care
Notice the word physicians.
As…
