Medical Marijuana bill heads to Abbott’s desk
SB339, a very limited medical marijuana bill passed a Texas House vote yesterday by a margin of 96-34, and is now headed to Governor Abbott’s desk. The bill, which previously passed the Texas Senate on May 7, was authored by State Senator Kevin Eltife, from Tyler. It permits doctors to prescribe a marijuana extract containing high levels of Cannabidiol, effective in treating severe seizures, particularly among epileptics. It does not get the user high.
But, as noted above, the bill, should it become law, is very limited as stands, because prescribing marijuana products is limited by federal law to Marinol, a synthetic marijuana used in the treatment of nausea from chemotherapy treatments among other things. Marinol gets most users very, very high.
In nearly all the other 23 states that have much more comprehensive medical marijuana laws, doctors are permitted to “recommend” or suggest the use of medical marijuana, which avoids conflicting with federal law. So unless there is a last minute change in the wording of the bill, even if signed into law by Gov. Abbott, no one will benefit from it.
Baby steps…
WACO SHOOTOUT FALLOUT
In the aftermath of the horrible Sunday shootout among several biker groups and police in the parking lot of a Waco Twin Peaks restaurant (see News Roundup for Monday, May 18), that left nine dead, 18 injured, and 170 bikers arrested, two of the gangs involved have allegedly called on their members to shoot police in North Texas. According to a report in the Huffington Post, members of both the Cossacks and Bandidos gangs were ordered to arm themselves and head north from the Del Rio area to kill police in retaliation for the police shooting at them during the melee. All reports say the police were fired on by the gangs, but no police officers were hurt. Law enforcement officers throughout Texas are being told to treat the threat as credible.
