Governor Gregoire has signed into law a bill spearheaded by 36th District Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle). The new law grants Washingtonians with terminal or debilitating medical conditions improved access to medical marijuana. “With this bill we honor our state’s commitment to relieving some pain and suffering for thousands of Washingtonians,” said Kohl-Welles, the primary sponsor for SB 5798.
This new law expands on the 1998 voter-approved I-692 which first allowed MDs and osteopaths to authorize the use of medical marijuana. The new law extends the authority to prescribe medical marijuana to other licensed health professionals such as naturopathic doctors, advanced registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants and osteopathic physician assistants. These professionals are already authorized to prescribe controlled substances.
During the next legislative session, Senator Kohl-Welles plans to do more work on medical marijuana issues. “Most unfortunately, this small protection is not enough. In the last month we have seen attacks on medical marijuana patients and providers. Next session, I will build on this year’s progress by working to provide full legal protection for medical marijuana patients and designated providers who work within the law,” Kohl-Welles said.
Read the entire SB 5798 as it was signed by Gov. Gregoire here (.pdf).
Lets stop this namby-pamby BS and legalize it already! For gawd sake it's ridiculous how much it has cost us overall in “enforcement” and prisons, etc.
I applaud the effort but this should be on the fast track.
Nonetheless, kudos to Sen. Kohl-Welles for pushing the issue forward.
It's up to us to start electing representatives who support such common sense legislation as the legalisation of the use of marijuana. This will free up law enforcement resources to prosecute more serious crimes.
Full legalization now! Do we really need to be as broke as Cali before this is seriously considered? It will be an immediate revenue generator (taxes) and free up valuable resources (police and prison space).
Yeah, this is a long time coming. I'd love for it to be completely de-criminalized soon, though. No more jailed users, no more jailed growers, no more burned crops.
Yeah!!
I long for the day I can get legally stoned in my car while driving!
Until then I'll just call up my main man and smoke dat dope!
Dope Head – somehow I don't think driving while high is going to be anymore legal than driving while drunk. But then I suppose lack of brain cells (for whatever reason) would not actually help in the critical thinking needed to arrive at such a conclusion.
In fact, I'm hoping that eventually all these wasted law enforcement resources that go towards arresting pot smokers will go toward arresting drunk drivers. It sounds like a person is way more likely to get jail time for having an ounce of pot and doing no damage other than killing their own brain cells then driving drunk and potentially killing another person or a whole family.
I wonder if Bastyr will offer courses to naturopathic doctors specifically about medical marijuana & all the effects & uses of this plant?