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420 with CNW – Proposed Bill Aims to Make Illinois Medical Cannabis Program Permanent

A bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Morgan seeks to make the pilot medical program in Illinois permanent. The bill also has provisions to include more qualifying conditions for the program.

The pilot program was approved in 2013 and lawmakers expanded as well as extended its duration to mid-2020.

Under the existing program, patients who suffer from one or more of the 40 qualifying conditions can buy a maximum of 2.5 ounces of medical cannabis every fortnight as long as a doctor approved their enrollment on the program.

It should be noted that law enforcement agencies haven’t raised any red flags about the program. For example, no reports have emerged of people using medical cannabis when they aren’t licensed to do so.

In contrast, the program has received a lot of praise from patients because those patients have been able to wean themselves off of stronger prescription drugs as a result of using medical cannabis.

Currently, about 58,000 people are registered on the medical marijuana program. However, this number is small when compared to the number of patients on the medical cannabis programs of other states.

One of the reasons for the low enrollment in Illinois is that chronic pain isn’t one of the qualifying conditions for which someone can enroll on the program.

This is set to change if Morgan’s bill becomes law. Chronic pain, migraines, autism, irritable bowel syndrome, osteoarthritis and several other conditions will be added to the list of qualifying conditions.

The bill also wants to make it possible for doctors to receive payment from patients or medical marijuana businesses. This payment is necessary because a lot of responsibility is given to doctors and yet no compensation was prescribed for the services that they offer to keep the medical marijuana program running.

However, the bill clearly states that doctors will not be paid for making medical cannabis referrals. Instead, they can be paid for conducting medical cannabis research.

Notably, the bill tabled by Rep. Morgan also wants to put in place mechanisms for veterans to access medical marijuana. Veterans need special attention in this regard because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, so Veterans Affairs doctors cannot prescribe it.

Morgan’s bill wants medical marijuana to be available to veterans as an alternative to the opioids that the veterans take to deal with chronic pain.

If all goes according to plan, the bill introduced by Morgan may be passed by fall. MustGrow Biologics Corp. and Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) hope that Rep. Bob Morgan’s bill sails through so that patients aren’t left wondering what will happen to them once the pilot medical cannabis program runs its course.

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) CannabisNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. CNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where news, content and information converge.

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