Medical cannabis: Just 27 to go

Charlotte

We were warned that as a technical "adult", processing C.'s application for medical cannabis will take a long time.

Had we applied before her eighteenth birthday, the process would have been streamlined and approval almost guaranteed. That's because in our jurisdiction, epilepsy is the one childhood illness that has been approved for medical cannabis. Adults, on the other hand, are limited to a list of six illnesses which excludes epilepsy.

If there's any logic there, somebody, please enlighten me.

In any case, adults can still receive approval for cannabis to treat epilepsy as an exception to the rule. The wait, though, is proving hard, particularly when I read or hear fresh anecdotal evidence of cannabis' performance with child epileptics.

See this video:

In the meantime, two more American states have joined the legalizer bandwagon, North Carolina [article] and New York [article] raising the total to 23 states plus the District of Columbia [article]. Each one seems to concoct its own unique version of medical cannabis law.

The first of the two was North Carolina, signed by its governor on July 3. Its version is so limited that some advocacy groups do not even include it among the 23 (plus DC) but deem it symbolic. Why? Because it authorized its use only for epilepsy. Only?? Don't the many suffering epileptics count for anything?

Next on July 5th, Governor Cuomo signed a bill. But eager he wasn't - the deadline for his signature was midnight of that day!  Now it will be at least another 18 months before medical pot becomes available in New York as the state Health Department must now draft regulations to govern the both its manufacture and distribution.

I have no doubt that every additional state legalizing medical cannabis influences both legislators and doctors throughout the world (and the committee that will review C.'s application). So, U.S. governors please sign those cannabis bills as soon as they land on your desks.