Oklahoma Enters Medical Marijuana Debate with Cannabidiol Bill

A medical pilot program using cannabidiol, a derivative linked to marijuana, is heading to a vote of the full Oklahoma Senate after being unanimously approved in the Senate Health and Human Services committee by a vote of 9-0.

House Bill 2145, co-authored by state Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, creates Katie and Cayman’s Law, which would legalize clinical trials using CBD, a non-intoxicating derivative of marijuana.

Previous medical studies indicate this product can be used to treat children and adults who suffer from epileptic seizures and help reduce the number and intensity of their seizures.

“This bill would allow the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control to partner with the Commissioner of Health and provide ultimate oversight to the clinical trials,” said Crain

Rep. Echols emphasized the bill is not an attempt to legalize marijuana, but an effort to help his niece and other children in the state who suffer from a variety of debilitating types of epilepsy.

“Katie and Cayman’s Law would allow children with severe epilepsy to participate in a clinical trial using cannabidiol, a marijuana derivative with less than a .3 level of THC to help with seizures, headaches and other effects of various epilepsy-associated ailments,” Echols said. “Cannabidiol is very high in the CBD content, but very low in the THC content, which is the component that gives users the feeling of being ‘high’.”

HB 2145 provides for a pilot program with the option for the Legislature to extend the initiative after the two-year trial period expires in December 2017.

The bill passed in the House by a vote of 99-2 earlier this year.