State considers legalizing cannabis oil

As Idaho lawmakers consider a bill that would legalize cannabis oil, a form of medicinal marijuana, eastern Idaho law officials, like Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland say they have some concerns.

“Where are they going to grow it? How are they going to manufacture it and where is it going to come from,” Rowland asked.

Rowland said it would be hard to regulate and enforce proper use of the drug. He said he understands why parents with epileptic children would want the bill passed, but he says more research is needed to make sure pot oil doesn’t become a “gateway” drug.

“Once you get that high, the brain is saying ‘I want to get that high back,'” he said. “I think marijuana is a drug that people are going to start using and then they are going to start lacing it with something else to get a better and bigger high.”

Even if law enforcement officials aren’t successful in slowing down the bill, pharmacists said that doesn’t mean they will be required to fill cannabis oil prescriptions. Pharmacists said the federal government classifies cannabis oil as a sequence one drug and does not recognize the legality of medicinal marijuana.

“It doesn’t mean that they aren’t effective, it just means that there isn’t any clinical study supporting them,” said Teton Pharmacy owner Jason Bailey.

Bailey said although the federal government has not take any action against states that have legalized medicinal marijuana, it is still a felony for pharmacies to administer the drug. Bailey said if the government did legalize the drug, it wouldn’t be different than other addictive drugs that they prescribe on a regular basis.

“We are currently doing that and I wouldn’t find the cannabis oil any different than a morphine or a Demerol, or a prescription that we are currently doing,” said Bailey.

Several parents with epileptic children and other supporters of cannabis oil testified before the Idaho Senate during the bill’s first hearing. It unanimously passed and is scheduled for a full hearing in coming weeks. If it passes, the bill will be presented before the House.