Lawmakers drop opposition, OK medical marijuana

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers overcame years of resistance and gave final passage to medical marijuana legislation, capping a long and emotional debate in which key Republican lawmakers described switching sides in favor of the proposal.

The House of Representatives voted 6834 to pass the bill, which would allow people with a qualifying medical condition to purchase medical marijuana with the recommendation of a doctor. The Alabama Senate late Thursday voted to accept House changes and sent the legislation to GOP Gov. Kay Ivey.

The state Senate had already approved the bill last February by a 218 vote after just 15 minutes of debate. But the House of Representatives had traditionally been more skeptical of medical marijuana proposals.

Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola said the governor’s office would review the bill.

“We appreciate the debate from the Legislature on the topic. This is certainly an emotional issue. We are sensitive to that and will give it the diligence it deserves,” Maiola said.

The approval came eight years after a medical marijuana bill in 2013 won that year’s “Shroud Award” for the “deadest” bill of the year in the House of Representatives.

“They laughed at me,” former Democratic state Rep. Patricia Todd, the sponsor of the 2013 bill, said of the reaction she got from some Republicans at the time.

“I’m glad to see it passed. It’s long overdue,” Todd said.

Republican Rep. Mike Ball, who shepherded the bill through the House, said “hearts and minds” slowly changed on the issue. Ball, a former state trooper and state investigator, said he also switched his stance on medical marijuana.

“Every year that we delay getting help to people who need it, there are more people and more people who are suffering because of it. We’ve still got another year or so before this gets set up and cranked up, but at least we have hope now,” Ball said.

More than a dozen conditions, including cancer, a terminal illness, depression, epilepsy, panic disorder and chronic pain would allow a person to qualify. The bill would allow marijuana in forms such as pills, skin patches and creams but not in smoking or vaping products.