The Missouri House of Representatives has quashed a proposal on Wednesday legalizing medical marijuana. Lawmakers of Missouri have defeated the proposal straight for the second time in a year. Campaigners favoring the measure have portrayed the proposal as a more restrained approach than a possible constitutional amendment following a consensus poll in November.
The rejected bill allows doctors recommending medical marijuana to the patients suffering from debilitating illness such as AIDS or epilepsy. It also contained provision for creating a licensing regime for commercial pot growers, retailers while incorporating system for tracking the drug from seed to sale, reports The Cannabist.
Legalization of medical marijuana bill has also contained provision that allows people to grow six pot plants for their personal medicinal use. If passed accordingly, the bill would require patients getting a state identification pass for $25 after approved by the physicians for using medical marijuana.
The proposal has been dismissed by some 85 lawmakers while supported by some 71 others. Members of the Missouri House have diminished a similar initiative in April. Revised version of the quashed bill proposing legalization only for the hospice patients has also been dismissed this time, according to a report published in Bryan-College Station Eagle. The legislation may have helped stave off a more permissive measure than getting incorporated through the November ballot, cites apparently disheartened but still affirmative campaign supporters. They have also submitted a petition appealing to the voters for allowing medical marijuana by the Missouri constitution, reports fox2now. Wednesday's bill will have to be approved from the Senate by Friday and then gone through the August ballot, if voting has spoken in its favor. Witnessing the rejection, some campaign supporters have touted the medical benefits of marijuana. Meanwhile, some others have stressed the need for setting user guidelines by the lawmakers instead of deferring to the citizens' initiative process. Lawmakers supporting the bill are in positive intention about the bill to help the ailing people, observes Republican Representative Jack Bondon from Belton. However, another Republican Representative from Springfield doesn't consider marijuana as true medicine due to lack of required safeguards. He stresses the need for more rigorous lab testing to ascertain consistent dosages. Some lawmakers intend passing own bill to establish control over the regulations. But some other lawmakers don't feel the necessity for passing a statutory measure due to possible overriding by constitutional amendment.
