Alabama becomes 37th medical marijuana state

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday signed a medical marijuana bill into law, making it legal for registered patients with a qualifying condition, such as chronic pain, to use medical cannabis as a treatment.

S.B. 46 passed the Senate 20 to 9 and the House 68 to 34 on May 6. Among the more than a dozen qualifying conditions covered by the law are anxiety, cancer, Crohn’s Disease, fibromyalgia and epilepsy.

Gov. Ivey said in a statement that the law was several years in the making and “is certainly a sensitive and emotional issue and something that is continually being studied.”

“On the state level, we have had a study group that has looked closely at this issue, and I am interested in the potential good medical cannabis can have for those with chronic illnesses or what it can do to improve the quality of life of those in their final days,” she said.