Home » Legislature gives final approval to cannabis oil bill

Legislature gives final approval to cannabis oil bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 1, 2014) — The Senate on Monday agreed to final passage of the bipartisan legislation that would allow medical use of cannabis oil to treat certain medical conditions, including pediatric epilepsy.

The bill allows the procurement of cannabis oil through a research university under the supervision of a physician.

In a number of cases the results of using the oil are “nothing short of a miracle,” said Rep. John Tilley, who carried the bill in the House. “It relieves their suffering. It relieves the seizures they encounter every day.”

Senate Bill 124 is sponsored by Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville, and Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville and passed both chambers without dissent.

“This is most directly being presented to assist those who have, sometimes, hundreds of seizures a day,” Sen. Denton said earlier this month when the Senate considered the bill.

On Monday, the Senate concurred with a House amendment that simply renames the bill for Clara Madeline Gilliam, a Kentucky baby that has experienced the type of seizures that medical cannabis oil is meant to treat.

The bill also allows the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville medical schools to conduct studies of the oil, which can be derived from industrial hemp or marijuana plants, but legislators stressed that the legislation does not legalize marijuana use.

“We know that folks suffering from epilepsy will gain hope from this substance,” Rep. Tilley said.

SB 124 now goes to the governor’s office to become law.