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Marijuana.com

The Alabama House Health Committee will hear testimony about medical marijuana on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Alabama State House.

The hearing won’t specifically address House Bill 2, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state, according to bill sponsor Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Jefferson County), who sponsors the legislation.

“I have seen a lot of people die a miserable death and some benefited from the use of marijuana,” Todd said, reports Bill Britt at the Alabama Political Reporter. “I also believe that it can be very beneficial for people who suffer from cancer and migraines.”


Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition/Facebook
Co-Presidents Ron Crumpton, left, and Chris Butts of the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition

Eighteen states now allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and a movement is afoot in Alabama to make it the 19th. Next Wednesday, November 14, a public hearing will be held in the Alabama State House on the medicinal use of cannabis.

Rep. Jim McClendon of Springville, who chairs the House Health Committee, said the hearing won’t be specifically about House Bill 2, a bill that will be before the January session of the Legislature which would legalize medical marijuana. The hearing is, however, a chance for medicinal cannabis proponents to educate legislators about the medical benefits of the herb.

Hal Yeager/The Birmingham News
CLUELESS! Rep. Jim McClendon, chairman of the Alabama House Health Committee, called constituent emails “harassment”

Health Committee Chairman Unwilling To Read Citizen Emails

Ah, representative democracy. When citizens have concerns, they contact their elected representatives, right? Right?? One Alabama legislator apparently could use a basic civics lesson; it seems Republican Rep. Jim McClendon has forgotten for whom he works. On Thursday morning, he sent an email message to constituents, colleagues and newspapers statewide accusing medical marijuana lobbyists of “harassment.”

McClendon, chairman of the Alabama House Committee on Health, apparently felt quite put upon by the emails sent by members and supporters of the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition, a group fighting for safe access for medicinal cannabis patients in the Heart of Dixie.

Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition/Facebook
Ron Crumpton, left, and the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition (AMMJC) travels the state attending public events and drumming up support for medical marijuana. This shot was taken at the 2012 Boll Weevil Festival in Enterprise.

Years of hard work by the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition (AMMJC) is starting to pay off.

House Bill 2, The Alabama Medical Marijuana Patients’ Rights Act, is scheduled for a pre-session meeting before the Alabama House Health Committee next month, with experts on medicinal cannabis invited to speak.

“Rep. McClendon is having a meeting of the Health Committee to hear proponents and opponents of Medical Marijuana, November 14, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in the Joint Briefing Room,” Committee Clerk Mary Ruth Davis emailed bill sponsor Rep. Patricia Todd on Tuesday.
According to Ron Crumpton, co-president of AMMJC, Rep. McClendon told Rep. Todd that testimony on HB 2 will not be limited unless it gets redundant.