JACKSON, Miss.–Cannabis oil won’t get you high, but it could help your medical condition if you have severe epileptic seizures. A bill that would allow it in Mississippi passed the House of Representatives Thursday.
There still could be changes to the bill and it must get Senate approval before it goes to the governor to become law.
The vote on House Bill 1231 was 112-6.
CBD oil is extracted from marijuana, yet has no THC. That’s the substance that causes a high.
Sen. Josh Harkins pushed a similar bill that died in the Senate. He said there have been cases where the cannabis oil extract has nearly cured children with rare forms of epilepsy.
“I have a constituent, a 20 month old little girl named Harper Grace who suffers from Dravet Syndrome. These kids can have hundreds of seizures a week. This child is on four narcotics,” he said.
“Her mother approached me and said her last hope in giving her child a quality of life is this CBD oil.”
He said he believes, after research, that Mississippi should make it legal to use the extract for medical purposes. It is not medical marijuana and the bill would no legalize marijuana at all.
Enactment of this measure would require patients to obtain a prescription from a Mississippi licensed physician. The licensed physician who prescribes the medication must also be the one who administers it to the patient.
Once both chambers concur with the changes and adopt the conference report, that bill is then sent to the Governor’s desk.
“It’s from a plant that is just as natural to this earth as any other,” said Harkins.
So far in the 2014 Legislative Session, Governor Bryant has signed 79 House Bills into law.
