House panelists support a delay of Arkansas marijuana measure

A House committee recommended bills Wednesday that would delay implementation of the state's newly approved medical-marijuana constitutional amendment and would keep records related to the drug confidential but not subject to a federal privacy law.

The action came a day after a member of the Medical Marijuana Commission said he expected a legislative limitation on dispensaries' ability to grow the plants. The commission was created by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, approved by voters in November.

The committee action came after talks between lawmakers and both sides of the medical-marijuana issue.

But Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock, who is organizing his chamber's bills pertaining to the drug, said his aim is to keep legislation as narrowly focused as possible.

"Everybody's got their role to play," House said. "Our role as a Legislature is to change the amendment if it is unworkable or impractical to the point of defeating the purpose."

He said he wants the Medical Marijuana Commission to determine policy as much as possible. Lawmakers meet in a regular session once every two years and it can be difficult to undo mistakes enshrined in state law, he said.

Committee action

The House Rules Committee recommended passage of two bills on Wednesday sponsored by House.

House Bill 1026 would delay medical marijuana implementation by 60 days. It is aimed at allowing the Medical Marijuana Commission the time it needs to come up with sufficient regulations and to allow public comment, House said.

House Bill 1058 ensures that medical marijuana records -- while confidential -- are not subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, also known as HIPAA, House said.

A small violation could cost the state $10,000 or more, he said.

"You've got people at the Health Department that may have access to these records that are not HIPAA qualified. You're going to have police on the streets that are not going to be qualified under HIPAA," House said. "You may have other people in the whole process that are not HIPAA qualified and now you've got the doctor releasing a record, verifying a record and all that."

The bill also would remove a requirement that doctors determine the "potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks for the qualifying patient."





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House said the change is aimed at getting more physicians to participate. Some doctors are uncomfortable determining whether marijuana benefits outweigh risks, but would feel comfortable recommending marijuana to a cancer patient, he said.

"Essentially, the physician says this patient has this particular condition -- cancer, multiple sclerosis, something like that. That's as far as the physician needs to go," House said. "What conversations that physician may choose to have with her patient -- that's between her and her patient. The state is not going to dictate that conversation."

It will make it easier for people to get cards "because all the physician has to do is certify the condition," House said.

David Couch, the Little Rock lawyer who sponsored the constitutional amendment, said he had no issue with the bills presented by House on Wednesday.

House's other bills -- not considered by the committee -- would specify how criminal-background checks should be completed, better define excluded felony offenses that bar people from operating dispensaries and cultivation facilities and add a license for transporters.

They are House Bills 1057, 1049 and 1051, respectively.

House said he also plans to include a provision to pay commissioners an annual salary in the Medical Marijuana Commission's appropriation.

His aim is about $30,000 -- in line with what Arkansas State Claims commissioners are paid -- but it could change depending on how much state money is available.

"These folks are going to work real hard for six months and then I expect they'll meet about once a month after six months has passed," House said. "It's fair."

Possible legislation

Couch said he staunchly opposes any effort to prevent dispensaries from growing up to 50 plants.

Medical Marijuana Commission member James Miller said at Tuesday's commission meeting that he expected such a bill to be filed. House said Wednesday that he is unaware of any legislative effort to do so.

Couch said any effort would run contrary to the will of the voters.

"The people just voted to allow dispensaries to grow a limited amount of medical marijuana. The General Assembly should respect that," he said. "It was done so that special strains could be grown that might not be grown by the large cultivators."

It's also a small check on the power of growers, Couch said. The commission has decided that the state can have five growers.

Activists also are trying to influence modifications to the amendment.

Jerry Cox, the president of Arkansas Family Council and an opponent of the amendment, said he "suspects we're going to need 15 or 20 laws at least to set the boundaries for how this thing is done." Cox has questions about quality control and if and where advertising would be allowed.

"The Legislature is going to need to study how do you implement this with the least amount of harm," he said. "Are we going to allow edibles, and if we do, are we going to allow candy? Are we going to allow it to be packaged in a way that's attractive to children?"

However, Melissa Fults, who backed a competing medical-marijuana measure that the Arkansas Supreme Court disqualified during early voting, said she is pressing lawmakers to consider patients' access to medical marijuana.

She would like dispensaries to be allowed to grow up to 100 plants to act as a check on the power of the five authorized cultivation facilities.

She would like to see lawmakers add nine qualifying conditions -- autism, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit disorder, bulimia, traumatic brain injury and severe insomnia.

And she would like lawmakers to add an affordability clause so that 1 percent of the revenue from medical-marijuana sales goes into a fund to buy the drug for poor patients.

A Section on 01/12/2017

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