Growing hemp is legal in Missouri for the first time since the 1940s, albeit only for a very limited purpose and only by two growers.
Under a bill signed yesterday by Gov. Jay Nixon, two not-for-profit growers may be licensed by the Department of Agriculture to produce hemp to extract oil for the treatment of intractable epilepsy. Patients who meet the criteria for using the oil will be able to obtain permits from the Department of Health and Senior Services to protect them against criminal laws banning the possession of marijuana.
Sponsored by Rep. Caleb Jones, R-Columbia, the bill was passed after families brought children with uncontrollable seizures to the Capitol to ask for access to a treatment that has shown great promise since being developed in Colorado.
“A couple of things really made this bill move through the process quickly,” Jones said. “First, I think everyone realized it was the right thing to do, and we spent a lot of time educating all the House members on the bill. Secondly, it was dealing with people’s lives, and an extra day of this not being law is a day that children with intractable epilepsy are denied the treatment they need.”
The bill legalizes hemp that contains a high level of cannabidiol, or CBD, and a very small amount of THC, the psychoactive chemical that recreational users covet to get high. A strain of hemp known as Charlotte’s Web has raised hopes for people who cannot obtain relief from standard anti-seizure treatments.
The bill contains an emergency clause, and CBD treatment became legal with Nixon’s signature. Practically, because the permitting process must be implemented and growers must be licensed, Jones said he expects it will be about eight months before the CBD extract is available.
Doctors must certify that patients have not been helped by three or more standard treatments before they could prescribe the extract. Growers would be subject to regular inspections, and all byproducts from the plants would have to be destroyed or turned over to universities for research.
David Lardizabal, director of the epilepsy program at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, declined to be interviewed but provided a statement from the American Epilepsy Society calling for controlled research. The benefits have not been proved, and the potential side effects are unknown, the society said.
Nixon’s signature caps a good year for marijuana reform advocates, said Dan Viets, chairman of Show-Me Cannabis and state coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “The Missouri General Assembly for the first time has recognized that marijuana is medicine,” Viets said.
Advocates are aiming for a 2016 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. They also will look to lawmakers to continue relaxing the laws, Viets said. The permitting process for CBD patients and growers could easily be expanded to cover other medical marijuana treatments, he said.
“The conventional wisdom is out the window,” Viets said. “The Missouri legislature is ready to embrace far broader reforms than anyone was willing to accept a short time ago.”
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Marijuana extract becomes legal for epilepsy treatment
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