It’s a start, but the bill did not include patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) formerly known as (RSD) in the language. PA needs to be better educated about the disease so that they understand the far reaching effects it has on peoples lives. The state medical board will have the ability to amend the list.
Qualifying medical conditions include cancer, epilepsy and seizures, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, spinocerebellar ataxia, severe fibromyalgia, wasting syndrome and traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome.
By MARC LEVY
HARRISBURG — After an emotionally charged debate, Pennsylvania state senators overwhelmingly passed legislation Sept. 24 to legalize several forms of medical marijuana, although the legislative session is growing short, House Republican leaders are skeptical of the bill and Gov. Tom Corbett opposes it.
Although supporters of the bill viewed the vote as historic, Pennsylvania is behind other states: More than 30 others already have legalized some form of medical marijuana, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
After 50 minutes of debate, every Democrat voted “yes,” as did 20 of 27 Republicans. Several “yes” votes came from senators who have law-enforcement backgrounds.
Under the proposal, state residents would need an access card from the Health Department after proving they have a practitioner-patient relationship and written confirmation of a qualifying medical condition. A handful of drug delivery methods that do not involve smoking it would be permitted under the bill, including extracted oil, edible products, ointments and tinctures.
The chamber’s debate had been propelled by parents who believe a marijuana oil extract can help their children who suffer from seizures so debilitating that they worry about whether their child will survive another day. But proponents talked about the wider possibilities it has for treatment of other people, such as veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It is cruel and heartless to deny people the best medicine that is available,” Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, said during floor debate. “And it’s time to stop treating this irrationally and saying, ‘we’re not going to let you have this, we’re going to instead make you take far more dangerous and less effective drugs.’ That’s just not how we would want to be treated; it’s not how we want our families to be treated.”
However, the bill would make forms of medical marijuana more widely available than Corbett — the state’s former attorney general — has said he would allow.
hope-over-pain.org 
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