| Photo: Penny Ingram Vaughan |
| Members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care rally for medical marijuana in Birmingham, Saturday, February 13 |
About two dozen members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care, a medical marijuana advocacy group, staged a march and rally in Birmingham Saturday afternoon.
The group is urging people to support a bill before the Alabama Legislature which would legalize the medical use of cannabis by seriously ill patients with the recommendation of their doctor, reports Roy L. Williams of The Birmingham News.
“Patients in Alabama should not be locked in prison for trying to ease their pain and suffering,” said Loretta Nall, executive director of Alabamians for Compassionate Care.
| Photo: Penny Ingram Vaughan |
| Legendary marijuana activist Loretta Nall leads the way as Alabamians for Compassionate Care march for medical cannabis |
”We shouldn’t have to buy marijuana on the streets,” Nall said. “Alabama needs to join the other states that recognize the benefits of marijuana for medical purposes. It’s better than all those legal drugs out there for pain that have terrible side effects.”
The Michael Philips Compassionate Care Act, which will be introduced to the Legislature in March if things go according to plan, would allow doctors to recommend marijuana for seriously ill patients in Alabama.
Similar laws have already passed in 14 other states and the District of Columbia.
| Photo: Penny Ingram Vaughan |
| ACC members make a stand for patients statewide as they support the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act |
The Compassionate Care Act would provide protection from arrest under state law for doctors who recommend cannabis and patients who use it as medicine.
The group, many carrying signs with slogans like “Stop Arresting Patients” and “Support Medical Marijuana In Alabama,” staged a rally in Birmingham neighborhood Five Points South for 30 minutes before marching back to Caldwell Park.
Patients and supporters of the bill spoke about how medical marijuana helps alleviate their suffering, and how the law makes it difficult or impossible to obtain the medicine they need, turning patients into criminals.
Many of the drivers passing by the march and rally honked their horns and gave thumbs-up in support, according to attendees.