Bill to legalize pot-derived pain relief spray introduced

BOISE (AP) — A bill that would allow Idaho residents with multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders to use a pain-relief spray derived from marijuana has been introduced in the House.

The bill provides a carve-out in Idaho code for nabiximols, an oral spray that is undergoing clinical trials for possible approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Association, The Lewiston Tribune reported.

The bill is co-sponsored by Burley Rep. Fred Wood of Burley, and Boise Sen. Fred Martin, both Republicans and the chairmen of the House and Senate Health and Welfare committees. It was introduced in the House Health and Welfare Committee this week.

“Any time there’s something that can benefit the people of Idaho medically, I want to be supportive of it,” Martin said. “I don’t support legalizing marijuana, but I do support the appropriate use of ingredients found in marijuana that can be beneficial.”

In states that have legalized marijuana, Wood said, people can get nabiximols as soon as it clears the FDA and is scheduled on the list of controlled substances by the Drug Enforcement Agency.

In Idaho, however, THC and marijuana are both illegal. So even if the FDA and DEA approve nabiximols this summer, people will have to wait for the Legislature to take action next year before it can be prescribed.

The bill would potentially shortcut that process by several months.