“The passage of AB 1954 brings an end to the this long-standing and discriminatory practice. With dozens of studies showing that cannabis often leads to a reduction in pain patients’ use of potentially more harmful opioids, it made no sense for doctors engage in this sort of flagrantly discriminatory and destructive behavior.”
“These arbitrary and unnecessary limits were established without input from either the patient community or from those physicians who specialize in providing oversight to medical cannabis patients. They will likely result in creating unnecessary confusion and they will place an undue burden upon patients and their doctors.”
“The primary focus of any medical cannabis legalization law must be providing safe and convenient access to patients in order to improve their quality of life; it should not be about increasing revenue streams for state lawmakers.”
“As legal access continues to expand, one would expect the cannabis substitution effect to grow even more pronounced in the future.”
“Rather than embracing Oklahoma’s robust medical cannabis industry, politicians have instead sought to abruptly tap the breaks. This legislation is largely a solution in search of a problem and it is directly in conflict with the ‘free market’ principles so often espoused by those elected officials on the right side of the aisle.”
“This expansion is long overdue,” said NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano. “High prices and the lack of convenient access provide significant barriers to Ohio’s patient community. Hopefully, the addition of these licensed operators will better address patients’ growing demands.”
The Governor has proposed an amendment in the nature of a substitute to SB 591 which would create two new misdemeanors for personal marijuana possession.