The Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners have released draft rules to govern how physicians can recommend medical cannabis to patients, according to a press release.
The regulations include rules on the registration and required training for physicians who would like to certify patients for Alabama’s medical cannabis program, which was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey in May.
According to the draft rules, physicians can recommend medical cannabis as a treatment for the following conditions after other medical treatment or therapy has failed:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Cancer-related cachexia, nausea or vomiting, weight loss, or chronic pain
- Crohn’s Disease
- Depression
- Epilepsy or a condition causing seizures
- HIV/AIDS-related nausea or weight loss
- Panic disorder
- Parkinson’s disease
- Persistent nausea that is not significantly responsive to traditional treatment, except for nausea related to pregnancy, cannabis-induced cyclical vomiting syndrome, or cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Sickle Cell Anemia
- Spasticity associated with a motor neuron disease, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Spasticity associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or a spinal cord injury
- A terminal illness
- Tourette’s Syndrome
- A condition causing chronic or intractable pain in which conventional intervention and opiate therapy is contraindicated or has proved ineffective
The Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners will accept public comment on the draft rules through Jan. 4, 2022.
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission is also working on its own regulations regarding the licensing of cultivators, manufacturers and dispensaries, according to the press release.
