| Show me medical marijuana legalization. |
Despite some setbacks earlier this year, marijuana-reform advocates say that a medical-marijuana bill is off to a good start in the legislative process and might have a chance of getting on the November ballot.
SB 951, which was introduced by Senator Jason Holsman, would legalize marijuana solely for medicinal purposes. People suffering from certain conditions would be allowed up to four ounces of their medicine and sales on it would be taxed at a rate of 8 percent.
The state senate’s General Laws Committee held the hearing Tuesday and allowed several reform advocates, including activists and mothers of sick children, to speak their mind about the law proposal. And according to those who testified, the feeling in the room was that the bill had a good chance of getting to the next stage.
“I think it went really well,” John Payne, executive director of Show-Me Cannabis, tells Daily RFT. “I’m optimistic the committee will approve it. They’ll probably make some amendments to it, but I’m optimistic they will approve it.”
Heidi Rayl testified in front of the senate committee and told the story of her four-year-old son Zayden, who has a severe form of epilepsy that causes him multiple seizures a day. Rayl gives her son cannabis oil to lessen the seizures.
Read more over at the Riverfront Times.