U.S. Senate Committee Votes to Protect Doctors Who Recommend Medical Cannabis
(Photo: marijuanadoctors411.com)
The United States Senate Appropriations Committee has voted 18 to 11 to give approval to an amendment that would explicitly protect physicians who recommend medical cannabis from any form of criminal persecution.
The amendment – introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) – specifies that; “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this title shall be used in a manner that would interfere with the ability of a provider to recommend medicinal marijuana in accordance with State law, or of a patient to participate in a medicinal marijuana program consistent with such State law.”
As Tom Angell of Marijuana.com notes; “A federal court ruling actually already protects doctors’ ability to discuss and recommend medical marijuana with their patients under the First Amendment. The so-called Conant decision by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was appealed by the federal government to the Supreme Court, which then denied the challenge and let the lower court’s ruling stand. As such, the regional decision is not technically nationally binding but has had the result of heavily discouraging the federal government from taking punitive action against doctors for their medical cannabis recommendations.”
Still, many doctors remain fearful of recommending medical cannabis due to federal law; this new amendment is designed to remove this fear, allowing doctors to do what they feel is best in regards to whether or not they want to recommend the use of cannabis to their patients.