Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Virginia State Congress Passes Bill To Allow Specific Marijuana Oil Production In State

virginia cannabis epilepsyBrandon Turbeville
March 14, 2016

It appears that, after decades of oppressive and freedom-crushing drug legislation, even the state of Virginia is being forced to come to grips with the rising tide of public opinion that no longer views marijuana as the substance equivalent to al-Qaeda.

Fresh on the heels of a bill that was passed by the Virginia House and Senate and signed into law by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe that allowed for the possession of marijuana oil that is being used to treat intractable epilepsy, Virginia lawmakers have recently passed legislation that will allow for the production of that oil in the state.

Back in February 2015, an emotional testimony by parents of children suffering from daily seizures (as well as a 14-year-old girl who actually had a seizure during the committee hearing), Virginia lawmakers agreed on legislation that would allow Virginia citizens to possess and use marijuana oil for the treatment of epilepsy. Anyone possessing this oil must have a doctor’s certification that it is being used to treat intractable epilepsy.

The bill also allowed doctors to issue these types of certifications. To be clear, the law did not legalize marijuana oil; in fact, possession of the oil even with a doctor’s certification is still technically illegal. However, the law provides what is known as an “affirmative defense” from prosecution for anyone that possesses the certification. Essentially, the oil is still illegal but prosecutors will be prevented from prosecuting these specific cases.


While Virginia citizens are now able to treat epilepsy with marijuana oil, the cultivation of marijuana is also still illegal in Virginia, thus making the oil impossible to procure legally. Remember, because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, and because the federal government regulates interstate commerce, shipping marijuana oil from one state to another is a violation of more than one federal law.

Enter SB 701 – a bill that legalizes the production of two non-intoxicating derivatives of the marijuana plant – cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil – to be produced in the state of Virginia for medicinal purposes. The bill has passed both the house and the senate but will not become effective unless it is reenacted by the 2017 general assembly. The bill is now headed to Governor McAuliffe’s desk. The bill requires the state Board of Pharmacy to create regulations regarding safety and a method of providing the oil, a process that can take as long as 280 days.
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While both marijuana bills are incredibly tiny steps in the right direction, we hope that the state of Virginia and the rest of the country soon come to the realization that the War on Drugs is a failure and the War on Marijuana specifically is counterproductive.

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This article (Virginia State Congress Passes Bill to Allow Specific Marijuana Oil Production in State) can be republished under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Brandon Turbeville and Natural Blaze.com.

Brandon Turbevillearticle archive here – is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies,Five Sense SolutionsandDispatches From a Dissident, volume 1and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 600 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

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