Kansas House advances medical marijuana bill

The Kansas House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would legalize medical marijuana.

The House passed House Substitute for Senate Bill 158 by a vote of 79-42, sending the measure to the state Senate.

According to The Wichita Eagle, Thursday was the first time the state legislature ever held a floor vote on the issue.

The measure now heads to the Senate for a vote, which is unlikely to occur this year, according to the Eagle.

The measure, if passed, would allow a person with a qualifying medical condition to obtain medical marijuana at the recommendation of a doctor that they’ve known for at least six months, according to its text.

An exemption to this would be if a person switches physicians, the former physician would have to inform the current of the medical condition. Also if a person had moved from out-of-state and had a recommendation from another physician, the previous physician would have to verify the qualifying condition with the current.

There is also an exemption for veterans who have not previously received a recommendation for medical marijuana.

Among the list of qualifying conditions are Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cancer.

Kansas wasn’t the only state on Thursday that took a major move towards legalizing medical marijuana; the Alabama House of Representatives also passed a bill allowing people with a qualifying medical condition to purchase medical marijuana, The Associated Press reported.