Missouri Discusses Expansion of Qualifying Conditions for Medical Cannabis
There is a debate happening in Missouri about whether a proposed bill to expand medical cannabis use to those with life-ending illnesses is too much—or not enough.
House Bill 1554 is an initiative that, if it passes, would allow citizens to vote in November to legalize medical cannabis to adults with a terminal illnesses. However, several residents who spoke at a recent Missouri House Committee meeting were speaking in favor of an expansion to the list of qualifying illnesses.
“We are already used to defying the federal government,” said Joshua Lee, a retired Missouri National Guardsman and Army veteran. “This is Missouri. We’re the Show-Me State. What do a bunch of fat cats up in D.C. know about how to control our health?” Lee is also the founder and executive director of Veterans Alliance for Compassionate Access.
“I drove here, 14 hours, to be here, to talk to you for three minutes,” said Dustin Peters, a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars who wants PTSD included as a qualifying condition on the legislation. He told the committee that cannabis helps with sleep disorders, PTSD and chronic pain, and was a safer choice than opiates and other highly addictive medications.
“I needed to address a larger issue, and that is when I began to illegally treat myself,” said Kyle Kisner, also a veteran of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He said that using cannabis instead of the medications that were prescribed to him gave him the ability to hold down a job and go back to school, working on two bachelor’s degrees.
A lobbyist for the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys was the only person at Monday’s hearing that testified against the passing of the bill, saying that it would confuse prosecuting attorneys, since Missouri state law would conflict with federal law.
Missouri has made some progress for medical cannabis patients. In 2014, House Bill 2238 legalized hemp extract for adults with intractable epilepsy, providing they had tried three other treatments without success. Hemp is also allowed to be cultivated in the state, having been deemed not a controlled substance earlier this year.
