A Republican congressman from Pennsylvania says he has filed a bill to legalize nationwide the kinds of non-psychoactive medical marijuana treatments that have attracted dozens of families to Colorado.
Dubbed the “Charlotte’s Web Medical Hemp Act of 2014” — after the name of the Colorado-developed marijuana strain most famously used in the treatment — U.S. Rep. Scott Perry’s bill would exclude all hemp, as well as the non-psychoactive compound cannabidiol, or CBD, from the federal government’s laws against marijuana.
By law, hemp is marijuana that is ultra-low in THC, the plant’s psychoactive compound. Hemp, which is also illegal under federal law in most cases, is commonly grown for fiber or seeds. But medical marijuana providers in Colorado have begun growing plants low in THC and high in CBD that qualify as hemp but are used to make oil for treating severe forms of epilepsy in children.
Dozens of families have moved to Colorado seeking the oil, and legislatures in 13 other states have this year passed laws allowing for at least research of CBD oil.
In a statement, Perry said he introduced the bill after being approached by three families in Pennsylvania whose children suffer from epilepsy.
The bill, which was not yet available online Monday afternoon, has a long way to go before becoming law. Similar bills to soften the federal government’s stance on marijuana — such as one from Colorado U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter to help state-legal marijuana businesses get bank accounts — have stalled.
