CARERS Act Press Conference (Replay)

On Tuesday March 10, Senators Cory Booker, Rand Paul, and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a historic bipartisan bill to legalize medicinal cannabis. Known as The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act, the bill would officially move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II.

“This bill that we are introducing seeks to right decades worth of wrong and end unnecessary marijuana laws.” -Senator Cory Booker

The three Senators went hard from the jump. Senator Rand Paul took to the podium to first speak of the banking issue that the cannabis industry is faced with. He shared about a recent trip to Colorado saying, “My guess is that even more tax money will be paid if they [dispensaries] are able to keep their money in banks and not brown bags.”

Here to talk about the families… 

During her opening comments Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she was there to “talk about some families,” in particular a little girl named Morgan from New York, who was in attendance and has Dravet syndrome. Morgan may benefit from safe access to high-CBD oil, which has proven to help calm seizures in many Dravet patients. As Gillibrand later stated, “When a child has seizures it doesn’t give their brain a chance to develop.”

“This is clearly a case of ideology getting in the way of scientific process.” –Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Thankfully, high-CBD cannabis was not the only subject Senator Gillibrand touched on. Gillibrand also spent time highlighting the benefits of cannabis for the treatment of cancer, multiple sclerosis, and even Crohn’s Disease. Senator Gillibrand also boldly proclaimed, “I think the science must be allowed to speak for itself. These patients need this medicine… it’s outrageous that any parent should be worried about Social Services knocking on their door because they are giving their child medicine that the doctor says their child needs.”

Multiple patients shared how cannabis positively impacted their conditions and how prohibition threatened not only their health but their freedom as well. During his opening remarks the Navy Veteran TJ Thompson stated, “I’m a father, a husband, an employee, and a criminal in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I’m also a criminal in The United States of America.”

The entire press conference (replay above) is historic to say the least. During questions about support from colleagues, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, “I dare any Senator to meet these patients here and say to them they don’t deserve the medicine their doctors prescribed.”

If enacted CARERS will:

• End the federal prohibition of medical marijuana
• Reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II
• Allow states to import CBD
• Allow banks to provide financial services to marijuana dispensaries
• Eliminate the Public Health Service Review obstacle for marijuana research
• End the NIDA monopoly on marijuana research
• Allow VA physicians to recommend medical marijuana to patients

You can help by sharing this page on facebook or twitter. Let us know in the comments below if you are ready to end the federal prohibition of medical marijuana.

About the Author

Corey Hunt

Corey is the co-founder of the #illegallyhealed movement. On most days, you can find him playing in Photoshop.