One year after the state House approved a bill to legalize medical marijuana, the furthest such legislation has ever progressed in Kentucky, the years-long effort to give Kentuckians and their doctors access to cannabis took a step back in 2021.
Bills that would have made Kentucky the 37th state to approve medical marijuana were introduced in both the state House and Senate, but neither was assigned to a committee. That means there were no hearings, no public testimony, and no movement.
“I’m highly disappointed this year in the legislative inaction,” said Jamie Montalvo, the executive director of Kentuckians for Medical Marijuana.
Montalvo suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS), a condition that causes him muscle and joint pain, along with sleep problems, numbness and muscle spasms.
“I’m slowly seeing the muscles in my body degrade and the only thing that seems to slow that or reduce the pain is cannabis, not opiates,” he said.
Montalvo credits marijuana with getting him off of the powerful pharmaceuticals that are more traditionally used to treat his condition. He said many Kentuckians would benefit from the same if the state joined the 36 others around the nation that have legalized the medicinal use of the plant. [Read more at Spectrum News 1]
