Small Town News

Medical marijuana bill heads to Senate floor

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Rehoboth Beach resident Trevor Wiberg said he is happy a bill allowing patients to use medical marijuana has moved out of committee and will be voted on in the Senate.

At the same time, he said the bill has pitfalls for pain patients like himself.

Wiberg suffers from a syndrome that leaves him in constant pain. His connective tissue disorder, osteoarthritis and bone spurs leave him exhausted but unable to sleep.

"It's extremely painful," said Wiberg, 25, from his Rehoboth Beach home Thursday. "It's an hour of torture every morning when I wake up while I wait for my medications to kick in."

Wiberg takes an extensive list of pain medications, which cost thousands of dollars, mostly paid for by Medicaid.

"Cannabis is really the best medicine out there," Wiberg said. "It helps with pain, it helps with nausea, it helps me sleep and it helps with the depression. Many of the medicines I use could be replaced if I could just use cannabis. It seems with all these budget issues, we could save money by allowing patients to just use cannabis."

Senate Bill 17, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East, would decriminalize the use of medical marijuana by Delaware patients. It would allow patients to possess up to 6 ounces of cannabis. A pill form - marinol - is also sanctioned. The Senate Health and Social Services Committee unanimously sent the bill to the full Senate on its merits. A vote on the bill has been scheduled for Thursday, April 31.

The proposed Senate Bill 17 would do the following:

Require doctors prove a patient could benefit from medical marijuana

Require patients or designated caregivers to have police-verifiable identification cards.

Create a database of medical marijuana patients and registered caregivers

Limit patients to holding 6 ounces of medical marijuana

Provide medical marijuana through state-regulated, nonprofit distribution centers, which would be required to meet strict security and record-keeping standards.

Sen. Joe Booth, R-Georgetown, said he plans to do more research on the bill, but for now he is not sure he can support it.

"I sympathize with those who need to use a drug to help them with pain. I'm familiar with this type of situation," Booth said. "However, I have some problems with the legislation. I'm not sure it's being presented that there is a need for the bill."

While the bill will help patients like Wiberg deal with pain, he says more could be done.

"The bill doesn't allow us to grow our own... it limits human freedom," said Wiberg. "It should be up to us and our doctors. Purchasing cannabis is highly expensive, even at our reduced price, but I still think we should be able to grow our own."

Wiberg said the bill allows patients to possess 6 ounces of cannabis, but to manage pain like he experiences, it would take a lot more than 6 ounces daily.

"Six ounces might be enough if you smoke it," Wiberg said. "But, if you eat it, you need a lot more at a time. Taking it orally is safer and more medicinally active. Six ounces isn't enough to ingest orally, so it might force people to break the law anyway."

While Wiberg has concerns about the bill, he said he is happy it will be voted on.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the bill move forward," Wiberg said. "It's a step in the right direction, and once it's passed we can work on tweaking it to suit patients."

Booth questions how many residents using medical marijuana are picked up each year for using the drug. He said he is not convinced the bill is necessary.

"Passing a bill like this is only going to increase the use of marijuana, both for medicinal and home medicinal uses," Booth said. "No one knows with legislation like this what it is going to bring down the road."

Booth said he thinks the pill has the votes in the Senate, but the House might be more of a challenge.





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