Here in Tennessee, our legislature is soon to begin debate on the "Safe Access to Medical Cannabis" Act. I am really proud to be the author of the legislation, as it is the logical progression of a model for returning cannabis to the medical pharmacopoeia that I helped initiate eight years ago in New Mexico. To date, about a half dozen other states have decided to license large-scale cannabis dispensaries to serve their patients and to try to divorce medical cannabis from the illicit market. None of them have been successful yet in providing cannabis to patients when they need it and at a cost that is much lower than the immoral street prices (upwards of $600/ounce) that patients have to pay now.
Our Tennessee program will do that. If enacted, the Safe Access program will be a state-managed endeavor that will be the most tightly controlled medical cannabis program in the country, and the most patient-friendly. It will also provide medical cannabis at $60/ounce, with one-third of that amount coming back to the state to fully fund the program, with excess revenues going into indigent health care and substance abuse treatment. If we pass this legislation, we will be the first Southern state to do so.
What follows is a short one-page summary of the Safe Access program that we will begin distributing to legislators next week. At the bottom of the page are links to two excellent stories that have already appeared in the Nashville media. We are still a month away from the legislative hearings, but we expect to attract several nationally-known experts to come testify here. So if you can help us move this bill, please get in touch with me. (My email address is at the bottom of this message.) Thanks kindly.
Bernie Ellis, MA, MPH
Principal Consultant
TN Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act
931/682-2864
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The Time is Now to Pass the Tennessee Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act
The Tennessee Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act (SB 2511/HB 2562) was introduced in our legislature on January 13, 2010. Unlike every other medical cannabis program in the US (existing or planned), the Safe Access act will establish a state-managed program that will be the most tightly controlled medical marijuana program in the country. It will also be the most patient-friendly.
Under the Safe Access program, farmers will be trained, supervised and licensed by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to produce medical cannabis under secure, safe specifications; including growing only strains of known chemical composition to make sure that the medicine is safe, reliable and targeted to provide maximum relief to patients suffering a discrete set of serious medical conditions.
Farmers will be allowed to sell their medical cannabis only to licensed distributors, who will process, package and distribute the cannabis under the strict supervision of the Tennessee Department of Health.
These licensed distributors will be allowed to sell medical cannabis only to participating pharmacies that will participate in the program under the strict supervision of the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy.
Eligible patients will obtain medical cannabis from these pharmacies with a recommendation from their health practitioners and without the need to go through a separate review and approval process.
Patients can participate in the Safe Access program if they are diagnosed with one of the following serious medical conditions and they have received a recommendation from their health practitioners.
Cancer
Multiple Sclerosis
HIV/AIDS
Hepatitis C
Wasting Syndrome
Severe, Debilitating and Chronic Pain
Severe Nausea
Epilepsy
Glaucoma
Crohn's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease)
Enrollment in a Hospice Program for any other terminal condition
The Tennessee Department of Health will convene an advisory panel that will be empowered to consider and recommend the inclusion of other serious qualifying medical conditions in a systematic manner.
Medical cannabis through the Safe Access program will be sold for $60/ounce, with $30 of that amount going to the farmer, $10 to the distributor and pharmacist and $20 to the state to fund the program, with excess revenues going to indigent health care and substance abuse treatment. Even with this low pricing (one-fourth to one-tenth what illegal cannabis of similar quality costs), the Safe Access program will provide significant revenues to farmers and the state from its inception.
Safe, effective, inexpensive, highly-regulated and controlled medical cannabis
Available to seriously ill patients as soon as their health practitioners decide it is needed
Eliminating the need for any involvement with, or support of, the illegal marijuana market
The Safe Access program is the best-conceived method to date for making medical cannabis available to seriously ill Tennesseans in a safe, secure, controlled, cost-effective and patient-centered fashion.
For background on the Tennessee Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act, read these articles:
www.nashvillescene.com/2010-01-28/let-s-roll/
http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/pitw/2010/01/sen_marrero_on_medical_marijua.phpTo help us get this model legislation passed, please contact us at tracevu@bellsouth.net
Now is the time for safe access. Support the Tennessee Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act.
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