Virginia NORML has been focused on securing access and protection from prosecution for all patients since 2016. This session, our efforts paid off with unanimous passage of our Let Doctors Decide legislation, supported by the Joint Commission on Healthcare, in both the House and Senate.
Patients like Nikki Narduzzi, who is now our coalition director at Cannabis Commonwealth, will now have the same rights that were initially granted in 2015 to only intractable epilepsy patients. I have spent hundreds of hours with Nikki in the halls of the General Assembly, in Committee rooms, in district offices, in coffee shops talking to Virginia legislators about this groundbreaking expansion legislation.
“Little did I know, in 2015 when I attended my first local Virginia NORML chapter meeting, that patient advocacy would become such a large part of my life,” said Nikki. “For the past three years, I have been supported and mentored by courageous advocates like Virginia NORML’s Executive Director, Jenn Michelle Pedini who has worked tirelessly in the trenches to bring medical cannabis access to ALL Virginia patients.”
Virginia will be the first state to expand a hyper-restrictive single qualifying disorder program to include any diagnosed condition. This didn’t happen because of industry dollars or high powered lobbyists, it happened because two moms wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. We were pushed aside by other organizations interested in working for only small patient groups. We were railroaded by partisan antics more than once. We stood our ground, we pushed forward, and we prevailed.
Read more here: http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2018/02/06/advocates-cheer-bills-passage/
To get involved or to stay up-to-date on the latest marijuana-related news in Virginia, make sure to visit our website at http://www.vanorml.org/ and follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
waiting for legalization as CBD oil doesn’t work for me. I’ve been without pain meds for 1.5 yrs an hoping for relief as no doctor will take me.
Sorry to hear aboutyour your pain meds its the same in N.C. opiods or nothing else cheers
I’m with you, Peggy. Until cannabis is removed from the CSA, patients like us are forced to either suffer or go to the streets. Hope it gets better soon…
Keep on fighting Virginia NORML!!!
Be brave! Be polite! Be NORML!
Would be a landmark state. Despite the stalled bills, great job, Virginia NORML!
This is great news! Your work will greatly benefit my wife and me. We are seniors who suffer from issues including Crohn’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Thank you very much Jenn and Nikki!
Lol… “Joint Resolution” on Healthcare lets doctors (and patient patient$…) decide.
This is excellent news for Texas!
todays unfolding understandings of human brains endo-cannabinoid system is fundamental to all questions as to therapeutric uses of cannabis and its many cbd’s including thc..
even layperson reading of wikipedia page on endo-cannabinoid system and how it uses cbd’s will demonstrate how long claimed therapeutic effects [pain, nausea, epilepsy etc] are influenced by this god given natural herb..
decisionmakers today cannot make ration decisions on cannabis use without at least fundamental understanding of their and our brains’ endo-cannabinoid system..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocannabinoid_system
“what is your brains endo-cannabinoid system?” should be a question for any decisionmaker..
[ex-temporal lobe grand mal epileptic cured by
cannabis, based on own research 30yrs ago]
I’m a 64y/o totally disabled Veteran living in Va. I have been on some form of morphine since returning from Desert Storm in 1991, where I piloted UH60 Blackhawks. My spinal injuries prevent me from maintaining any sort of gainful employment. 1 1/2 yrs ago a childhood friend introduced me to marijuana. Yep, has helped immensely. I was taking 60mg morphine sulfate 2X a day. Since having regular access to the marijuana I have been able to cut it to 30mg, am & 15mg pm and not one PTSD night! I was arrested in Texas last Sunday as I drove home to Va.. I exist totally on my Veterans Compensation and Social Security disability. Of course this means the end of the marijuana help and increase of morphine. That is if I don’t get incarcerated. Then they will completely eliminate my pain management. I don’t know what to do. The haunting thing is the 3 police officers involved laughed at me when I mentioned this and said I oughta think about moving to Colorado. Does anyone know where I can get some assistance? I can’t afford the attorney I need here. There was no reason to stop my car (74-75), no smoke in the car (I do not smoke), he said he smelled marijuana smoke. I apologize for running away there. Help?