Reprising a bill from last session, Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) and Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) introduced a bill that would allow parents easier access to use non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD oil) as a treatment for a medical condition. The bill, SB 10, allows for possession of CBD oil with written certification from a Wisconsin-licensed doctor. The certification must be no more than one year old. The bill also allows for Wisconsin to quickly make CBD oil available if federal regulations change, requiring that Wisconsin mirror any federal regulations if CBD is rescheduled or deleted as a controlled substance within 30 days of a federal register final order.
The legislation aims to fix Lydia’s Law, a bill enacted in the 2013-14 legislative session that passed, but because of a loophole and federal regulations, still made CBD oil unavailable to Wisconsin patients. Similar legislation passed in the Assembly last session, but failed in the Senate.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety held a public hearing on SB 10 on Jan. 31. Sen. Wanggaard, chair of the committee, and co-author Rep. Scott Krug testified that their bill would take away parents’ fears by decriminalizing possession of CBD oil in the state for medical purposes. Some committee members expressed concern that parents are still at risk from federal regulations on the drug, but the authors expressed little concern that federal government would enforce laws on a doctor-approved treatment drug.
SB 10 was unanimously recommended for passage by the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety on Feb. 2.
Twenty-eight states have already passed CBD oil legislation.