Hostility against medical marijuana legislation is declining in the state of Alabama, leading some to believe that a new, more comprehensive bill has a better chance of passing this year than ever before.

Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, is sponsoring this year's legislation, drafted by the Ron Crumpton-led Alabama Safe Access Project. It's the first time such a bill will be considered by the Senate.

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, failed to even pass in committee through the House of Representatives in previous years.

A public hearing on Senate Bill 326 -- Medical Marijuana Patient Safe Access Act -- is set for Wednesday at 1 p.m. during the Senate Judiciary Committee in room 325.

President Pro Tem Sen. Del Marsh told AL.com he would have to confer with the Medical Association of the State of Alabama before he could agree to support medical marijuana legislation.

Spokesman Nico Corley said the medical association has yet to take a position on this year's bill.

"We have it under review," he said. "We are trying to see what the unintended consequences could be for medical professionals."

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana for those will certain medical conditions.

Del Marsh is president pro tempore of the Alabama Senate (file photo)

This year' legislation would allow for patients who suffer from 25-specific conditions to purchase a maximum of 10-ounces of medical marijuana per month from a dispensary. Marijuana would be taxed at 2.5 percent; that sales tax revenue would go to sheriff or police departments to combat drug trafficking.

Certain patients would also be allowed to grow up to 16 plants of marijuana under the legislation.

The qualifying diseases include:

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease)

Anorexia

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)/ Attention deficit disorder (ADD)

Autism

Bipolar disorder

Cachexia

Cancer

Cerebral palsy

Chronic depression

Chronic pain

Dystonia

Fibromyalgia

Gastrointestinal disorders, including, but not limited to, colitis, Crohns disease, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Glaucoma

Lupus

Migraines

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Parkinson's disease

Persistent muscle spasms, including, but not limited to, spasms associated with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS-Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Rheumatoid arthritis

Seizures, including, but not limited to, seizures associated with epilepsy

Severe nausea

Tourette's syndrome

Only a limited number of dispensaries could be established under the legislation, Crumpton, executive director of Alabama Safe Access Project, said.

The state's largest cities: Montgomery, Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile could have only two dispensaries, and cities with a population over 10,000 can have only one. More rural counties without a city with a population over 10,000 would be allowed one dispensary.

"The more and more states that have passed it, the more people are seeing that the sky doesn't fall to the ground if you pass medical marijuana laws, Crumpton said.

He said states that have allowed medical marijuana for more than five years, there is a 24 percent lower rate of issuing prescriptions.

Crumpton said CNN's series on marijuana, "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution," by medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta changing some people's perspectives.

Another medical marijuana supporter, James Meissner, who founded OnePlant, a marijuana advocacy group in Alabama, said this legislation is "one of the most important pieces of legislation that Alabama lawmakers will ever look at. It can save a lot of lives.

"It is something that thousands of people in Alabama, if not hundreds of thousands, can benefit from," he said. "There are too many people who are living in pain right now who don't have any other options."

Prescription drugs no longer work for many with chronic conditions, Meissner said, and medical marijuana can be more effective and definitely less dangerous.

Legislators saw a different side of the medical marijuana debate last year when parents of children with seizure disorders converged on the State House to ask lawmakers to pass Carly's Law. They ultimately passed the law, which allows children with seizure disorders to be treated with an experimental marijuana-derived medication through a University of Alabama at Birmingham study.

UAB recently began treating patients.

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