HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania lawmakers in the House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 3 with a vote of 149-43, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state.

Wednesday’s debate on the state House floor started shortly after 4 p.m.

Rep. Sims argued there is, “No metric to measure the smile on a child’s face when they can go a day without a seizure.”

While Rep. Matt Baker spoke in opposition of the bill saying, “I can not remember the last time a body voted on a bill in direct violation of federal law.”

Representatives passed multiple amendments in favor of the bill on Monday and Tuesday.

The Senate, which originally approved the bill last May by a vote of 40 to 7, will not be able to vote to approve the reformed bill until Monday, which is its next day in session.

Governor Wolf released the following statement:

“I applaud the Pennsylvania House for passing legislation to legalize medical marijuana, and I look forward to the Senate sending the bill to my desk. We will finally provide the essential help needed by patients suffering from seizures, cancer, and other illnesses.”
Senate Bill 3 will allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients in pill, oil, and liquid form. House amendments narrowed the number of conditions to just over a dozen, including forms of cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dozens have families camped out this week inside the state Capitol to show support for SB3.

“The last couple days and last couple years we’ve been beating our heads against the wall,” says Angela Sharrer of New Oxford, Adams County. Angela’s daughter Emily suffers seizures the result of epilepsy. She calls the fight to legalize medical cannabis in Pennsylvania an “emotional rollercoaster.”

“We’re at the top and we’re ready to slide down and throw our hands up in the air,” she said.

Marijuana Supporters March In Hemp Parade more big
Caption:BERLIN – AUGUST 07: A young woman smokes a legal herb called damian as policemen stand nearby prior to marching in support of the legalization of marijuana in Germany during the annual Hemp Parade, or ‘Hanfparade’, on August 7, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. The consumption of cannabis in Germany is legal, though all other aspects, including growing, importing or selling it, are not. However, since the introduction of a new law in 2009, the sale and possession of marijuana for licenced medicinal use is legal. (Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Marijuana legalization has been taking its toll as most of the states are trying to look into consideration in having weed legalized for both recreational and medical use. Studies on Marijuana have been rampant showing positive effects of weed in various diseases and illness, considering weed as a cure for cancer as well.
Good News Oregon!

The state recently joined Colorado, Alaska, Washington, and the District of Columbia to have access in recreational marijuana, giving the freedom to smoke pot in some allowable areas and carry small amount of weed in their pockets. However, only 47 percentage of the state legally allows residents over 21 years of age to freely light a joint and carry weed. Still, it’s a big leap for the whole community.

IBTimes then reported that the recreational marijuana law took effect last July 1 , in which marijuana advocates freely gave out weed to adults with valid ID’s over 21 years of age. However, law makers are still trying to finalize the plans for Oregon’s first recreational marijuana shops which are not set until next year [2016]. So people from Oregon doesn’t have a place to purchase their weed for recreational use legally yet which means only medical marijuana is available in terms of purchase, though individuals can still consume weed when its being gifted or bought from the black market.

Though pot legalization is in Oregon, strict rules are still to be followed as per CNN Money; driving while under the influence of marijuana is still being looked upon. The new law included that Oregon residents are prevented from transporting weed out of the state, not even to its neighboring state Washington where weed is also legal.

As per reports, Ohio is being looked upon as the next state to have weed legalized for both medical and recreational use.

Medical potential of this cannabis compound is “simply undeniable.”

Matt FernerNational Reporter, The Huffington Post

Scientists in Israel are exploring another medical use for marijuana: Their research indicates that a compound in the plant helps heal bone fractures.

The new study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, found that broken bones healed faster and stronger when the patient received the non-psychoactive compound cannabidiol, or CBD.

“We found that CBD alone makes bones stronger during healing, enhancing the maturation of the collagenous matrix, which provides the basis for new mineralization of bone tissue,” said Dr. Yankel Gabet, one of the lead researchers, in a statement. “After being treated with CBD, the healed bone will be harder to break in the future.”

Researchers administered CBD to a group of rats with mid-femoral fractures. After just eight weeks, they saw marked improvement in the broken bones. They injected another group of rats with a mixture of CBD and THC, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient. Comparing the results, they concluded that CBD alone was an effective treatment.

Researchers explained that humans have a naturally occurring endocannabinoid system, which regulates a number of physiological processes as well as the skeleton. The human brain and body are thus prepped to be responsive to cannabinoids, even those from an outside source like marijuana.

Gabet of the Bone Research Laboratory at Tel Aviv University and the late professor Itai Bab of the Bone Laboratory at Hebrew University led the research.

A number of studies in recent years have demonstrated the medical potential of marijuana. Purified forms of cannabis have been tied to better blood sugar control and may help slow thespread of HIV.  A growing body of research suggests CBD may also be effective in reducing inflammation brought on by multiple sclerosis, stopping metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, killing cancerous cells in people with leukemia and serving as an alternative antipsychotic treatment.

“The clinical potential of cannabinoid-related compounds is simply undeniable at this point,” Gabet said.

Seventeen U.S. states have legalized CBD for limited medical use or research, and 23 other states have more broadly legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Still, the federal government continues to ban the plant, classifying it as one of the “most dangerous” drugs with “no currently accepted medical use.”

In November, Florida voters will decide whether the Sunshine State will be the next laboratory of democracy to legalize medical marijuana.

This week the state Supreme Court narrowly signed off on a controversial proposed constitutional amendment allowing the medical use of pot.

Now, if 60 percent of voters go for it, doctors could prescribe marijuana for patients with “certain medical conditions” and “debilitating diseases.”

The justices voted in favor, 4-3.

A pro-medical pot group, United for Care, also recently announced it has obtained the necessary number of petition signatures to ensure the amendment will appear on the November ballot.

“The Supervisors of Elections have validated enough of our submitted signatures to place us on the ballot in November – more than the 683,149 we needed and in the required number of congressional districts,” said Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, in a website statement.

Not everyone will celebrate these latest developments.

In an email response to Watchdog.org, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “The ruling leaves the issue of medical marijuana in the hands of Florida’s voters. I encourage every Floridian to read the full amendment in order to understand the impact it could have on Floridians.”

I have to tell you, I’m heartbroken to see what the president said just a few days ago. It’s stunning to me. I find it beyond comprehension….This is just difficult for me to conceive how the president of the United States could make such a statement as that….Did the president conduct any medical or scientific survey before he waltzed into The New Yorker and opined contrary to the positions of attorneys general and presidents universally prior to that?

Sessions, by contrast, clearly did his homework. He rebutted Obama’s observation that marijuana is safer than alcohol by citing a renowned expert on substance abuse:

Lady Gaga says she’s addicted to it and it is not harmless.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (Image: Senate Judiciary Committee)

I have been covering drug policy for about 25 years, and I am still sometimes startled by what passes for an argument among prohibitionists. What should we conclude from this sample of one about the hazards posed by marijuana? That it can be taken to excess, like every other fun thing on the face of the planet? That some people say they have trouble consuming it in moderation? Didn’t we know both of those things before Dr. Gaga’s earthshaking discovery?

More to the point, what does the possibility of addiction tell us about the truth of the statement Obama made—i.e., that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol? After all, “less dangerous” does not mean “harmless.” As Holder observed, “any drug used in an inappropriate way can be harmful,” and “alcohol is among those drugs.” To evaluate relative hazards, we have to dig a little deeper.

According to one widely cited study, based on data from the National Comorbidity Survey, “dependence” is nearly 70 percent more common among drinkers than it is among pot smokers. So even by this measure, marijuana looks less dangerous. That’s without considering differences in acute toxicity, driving impairment, and the long-term effects of heavy consumption, all of which weigh strongly in marijuana’s favor.

Gaga was not the only authority cited by Sessions. He also mentioned former Rhode Island congressman Patrick Kennedy, chairman of the anti-pot group Project SAM, who according to the senator “says the president is wrong on this subject.” Yet here is what Kennedy said during a recent debate on CNN with my Reason colleague Nick Gillespie:

I agree with the president. Alcohol is more dangerous.

Sessions was on firmer ground when he pressed Holder to admit that “if marijuana is legalized for adults, it makes it more available for young people.” As I’ve said before, it is likely that legalization in Colorado and Washington will be accompanied by an increase in underage consumption. While the newly legal marijuana stores are not allowed to serve anyone younger than 21, there will be a certain amount of leakage from adults to “minors” (who in this case include a bunch of people who in most other respects are considered adults), as there is with alcohol. Buying marijuana may become more difficult for people younger than 21 (assuming the black market eventually withers away), but that does not mean obtaining marijuana will be more difficult. Some teenagers and young adults will get pot by swiping it from parents or older siblings, and some legal buyers will have no qualms about sharing with older teenagers or 20-year-olds (although that will remain illegal). Given this reality, Holder’s response to Sessions’ concern about underage access is a bit troubling:

One of our eight priorities is the prevention of distribution of marijuana to minors. If there’s an indication that marijuana is being distributed to minors, that would require federal involvement….

Young people find ways to get alcohol because adults can have access to it. I’m not sure that we’ll see the same thing here given what we have said with regard to our enforcement priorities.

Holder is referring to the eight issues the Justice Department expects Colorado and Washington to address as the price of federal forbearance, one of which is “preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors.” If that means stopping state-licensed stores from selling marijuana to people younger than 21, it can be accomplished through strict enforcement of the states’ age limits. But if it means preventing 21-year-olds from sharing marijuana with their 19-year-old friends or brothers, it is not a realistic expectation. It is more like an excuse to crack down whenever the president gets tired of sniping by diehard drug warriors like Sessions.