RESOLUTION NO. __________, SERIES 2018
TITLE
A RESOLUTION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF THE LOUISVILLE/JEFFERSON COUNTY METRO GOVERNMENT SUPPORTING MEDICAL CANNABIS LEGALIZATION IN KENTUCKY. (AS AMENDED).
BODY
SPONSORED BY: COUNCIL MEMBERS HOLLANDER, BUTLER, COAN, FOWLER, LEET, JAMES, MULVIHILL, REED, SEXTON SMITH, WELCH, HAMILTON, LANSHIMA, ACKERSON AND YATES
WHEREAS, thousands of Kentuckians suffer from debilitating pain and symptoms from numerous diseases or chronic illnesses, including but not limited to cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Crohn's disease, and fibromyalgia; and
WHEREAS, Kentucky men and women veterans of the United States Armed Forces suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the effects of combat after serving honorably to protect their country and fellow citizens; and
WHEREAS, medical cannabis is widely known to limit the negative symptoms and debilitating pain for patients of numerous diseases or chronic diseases, and many citizens are replacing other drugs, including narcotic pain relievers, which have many adverse side effects, because they have found cannabis to be the most effective drug to provide relief; and
WHEREAS, more than two million Americans use medical cannabis to ease the symptoms and debilitating pain due to illnesses or ailments in the 29 states and District of Columbia where such treatment is legal; and
WHEREAS, the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine reports that opioid overdose deaths have fallen by 25 percent in states that have legalized medical cannabis; and
WHEREAS, in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where the 2014 veteran suicide rate was 10 percent higher than the national average, many veterans and their physicians say that medical cannabis is the most effective treatment for chronic pain and PTSD; and
WHEREAS, medical cannabis cannot be legally administered within the Commonwealth of Kentucky while 29 other states and the District of Columbia have...
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