New Federal Bill May Legalize Some Strains

Although there have been major milestones in the political realm of cannabis legislation, there are still many patients throughout the country that are routinely denied access to non-pharmaceutical medication to help relieve their symptoms. Less than half of the states in the U.S. have approved the use of medical marijuana (with many opting for the CBD-only route) leaving sufferers outside of these sanctioned regions with very few options — either move to more lenient states or illegally medicate.

On Monday, Representative Scott Perry plans to introduce a bill that would amend the Controlled Substances Act by removing plants with very low THC — less than 0.3 percent, to be exact — from the list of harmful substances and change the federal marijuana policy to allow people to legally medicate themselves.

The Charlotte’s Web Medical Hemp Act of 2014 would essentially decriminalize the use of non-psychoactive cannabis for therapeutic treatment of seizures, nausea, pain and other symptoms that prescription drugs fail to effectively alleviate without a variety of unpleasant side effects.

The name of the bill was inspired by Charlotte Figi, a 7-year-old with a rare type of epilepsy, whose violent seizures were controlled by regular doses of cannabis oil. Her parents campaigned nationwide to spread awareness of the healing qualities of cannabis and inspire politicians to allow patients to have easier access to their medicine.

“It’s a huge day, we’re celebrating, we’re very excited,” Charlotte’s mother, Paige Figi, said. “It’s a step in the right direction — it’s not full medical, but the success we’ve had in showing this is a working therapy, state to state, has come through and now federally they are taking notice.”

Smoking, edibles and other forms of cannabis with high THC content are not included in the bill.

What do you think about this proposed bill? What are your thoughts on CBD-only legislation?