The Pennsylvania State Senate passed a medical cannabis bill yesterday.
SB3 passed by a 40-7 margin, including the support of all 19 Democrats and 21 Republicans.
“Today the Senate showed it stands with the 88% of Pennsylvanians who support medical cannabis,” the legislation’s sponsor Daylin Leach stated. “A huge, bipartisan majority supported SB3 because it will allow children suffering from devastating seizure disorders, veterans suffering from PTSD, and cancer patients being ravaged by the side effects of chemotherapy, among others, to get the medicine they need.”
“Senator Folmer and I have been joined by advocates from across Pennsylvania to show that allowing people to get the medicine they need as soon as possible is a moral issue, not a partisan issue,” Sen. Leach continued. “Every day that passes without medical cannabis in Pennsylvania is another day of needless suffering, so I encourage my Republican and Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives to act quickly and decisively to send SB3 to Governor Wolf.”
A similar bill was approved by the Senate last September but went nowhere in the House.
Smoking marijuana still will not be allowed, though vaporization, oils, pills, liquids and gels are permissible.
Among the conditions that will be eligible include: cancer; epilepsy and seizures; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; cachexia/wasting syndrome; Parkinson’s disease; traumatic brain injury and postconcussion syndrome; multiple sclerosis; spinocerebellara ataxia; posttraumatic stress disorder; severe fibromyalgia; HIV/AIDS; glaucoma; chronic or intractable pain where other methods of treatment no longer have therapeutic or palliative benefit; Crohn’s Disease; diabetes; or a condition authorized by the State Board of Medical Cannabis.