INDIANAPOLIS – Lawmakers may crack a door for use of medical marijuana by protecting doctors involved in drug trials from prosecution.
On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers endorsed clearing the way for medical studies of cannabis oil - a non-psychoactive extract of the marijuana plant that's illegal in Indiana.
The measure falls far short of the acceptance advocated by some parents and lawmakers. They want state clearance to use the controversial drug for all children with seizure disorders - not just those involved in a study.
State Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Poseyville, urged fellow lawmakers to join 19 other states that have legalized cannabis oil while keeping in place a ban on marijuana. Prosecutors say Indiana shouldn't do that until the federal government approves the drug.
“How can you tell parents of suffering children to wait?” Tomes said.
He was scornful of concerns voiced previously by the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, which has said that allowing use of cannabis oil will lead to legalized marijuana for recreational use.
“What 3-year-old is thinking about becoming a drug dealer?” Tomes said.
Tuesday's decision, by members of the Interim Study Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, isn’t binding on lawmakers when they convene for the 2016 session in January.
But it may signal movement on the controversial issue by opponents of a more sweeping measure that Tomes wants to see passed next year.
Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, chairwoman of the study group, said she supports more research on cannabis oil after talking to an Indianapolis doctor who won federal approval to start a clinical trial on a synthetic version of the drug next March.
Leising said the doctor, pediatric neurologist Keith Ridel, got approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test the drug, manufactured by the Arizona-based INSYS Therapeutics, on a limited number of children with rare forms of epilepsy. It's a blind trial, meaning some children will receive a placebo instead of the drug.
An INSYS Therapeutics spokesman declined to comment on the study, one of several approved by the FDA for INSYS. Ridel did not return calls seeking comment.
Leising said doctors and hospitals in Indiana are reluctant to join trials of cannabis oil for fear they might be arrested by what she called “overzealous” prosecutors. The committee's proposal would provide immunity from state prosecution for those doctors.
“Maybe if we pass this, we can get more physicians at (Indiana University) Health and other top-notch physicians around the state to participate in these drug trials,” she said.
That seems unlikely to happen soon.
Cannabis oil, including the synthetic form produced by INSYS, is listed as a Schedule 1 drug - in the same category as heroin and cocaine - by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Though illegal, it is widely available online. Earlier this year, the FDA warned parents against using cannabis oil on their own since it remains banned.
After Tuesday’s hearing, parents who support Tomes’ efforts said they were disappointed by the recommendation.
Meredith Howell, the mother of a 4-year-old with severe epilepsy, said few children will be able access the clinical trials.
“These legislators had a chance today to act out of compassion,” she said. “Instead, they acted out of fear.”