Testimony, AZ Senate HHS: HB2061, the “Pregnant Woman Shaming” Bill

If you have been following our struggle against AZ LD16 Rep. Kelly Townsend (R) and her anti-cannabis bill, HB 2061, you know that she originally was attempting to declare pregnancy as an excluding condition when it came to qualifying for an AZ medical marijuana card. We have been fighting this since the beginning of this year’s legislative session.

At one point, HB2061 seemed dead in the water. Arizona NORML coordinated with MOMFORCE and Heather Manus of the AZ Cannabis Nurses Association to challenge the bill when it was originally filed. MOMFORCE provided a copy “Understanding Cannabis” for every state legislator and Nurse Heather directed us to Dr. Melanie Dreher’s 5-year Jamaican study on cannabis and pregnancy. Whether it was our work or not, for a period the bill was pulled. Townsend scaled back her vemon and later in the session filed a “striker,” AKA a “strike everything amendment” to a bill that strikes the entire original language and replaces it with all-new text. In this case from absolute exclusion for pregnant women (presumably in time establishing protocols to revoke existing mmj cardholders certifications on reporting of their pregnancies and blocking pregnant women from qualifying for cards) to shaming all pregnant mmj cardholders while they are in the dispensary with signs that warn of the “potential dangers” (THX Dr. Randy Friese for the word “potential”) of smoking marijuana. But far more importantly, as was revealed in the attached video of the hearing in the interplay between LD20 Sen. Kimberly Yee (R) and sponsor Kelly Townsend, the real intent of the bill is to threaten mmj cardholding women away from purchasing cannabis by reminding them that mmj cardholders are not protected from having their children taken by DCS for testing positive for THC in their system.

The injustice is palpable. The reader may recall we published a testimonial of a woman whose pregnancies were specifically made safer by cannabis. Twice. Obviously AZNORML was compelled to challenge this charade and testified at the Senate Health & Human Services Committee hearing on Wednesday March 9th, 2016, when Townsend’s striker came to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee after passing through the House unimpeded.  Here is a link to the video of that hearing:

mikel weisser ‏@mikelweisser 12m12 minutes ago

#HB2061, @kellyTownsend1‘s “Pregnancy-Shaming-Bill”#AZSenate HHS hearings. @normlinarizona testifies. Start 38:46 http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=17235 …

Here is the script of my testimony. To hear the exact testimony click here and begin at 45:28:

My name is Mikel Weisser. I am the state director of the Arizona chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. I rise to speak against HB2061, once known as the “Pregnancy Exclusion” bill, now more of a pregnancy shaming and threatening bill. While there are worst things the state could get involved in than threatening and shaming sick pregnant women, it is not good public health policy. I challenge that the intention of this bill does not have public health in mind as much as rep. Townsend’s well-documented political opposition to cannabis in general.

The human body’s metabolism is regulated through endocannabinoids, the internal chemical equivalent to the active ingredients in cannabis.Endocannabinoid level increase during pregnancy and peak at childbirth. Women with AZ state certified medical marijuana cards qualify for those cards because their bodies are not producting enough cannabinoids. This is the worst time to interupt their medical regimen. 

I provided information on this topic to the House Health Committee and can provide copies of the studies to this committee as well.

This morning I had a tearful conversation with a mother of 2, a medical card holder whose doctor instructed her to use cannabis for both her pregnancies. A lifelong suffer from spina bifida, she had to get of her lieflong narcotics prescription to have healthier pregnancies. This is not an isolated case. The AMMA program lists more than 10,000 women of childbearing age who will be affected by this law. The original, more punitive language of HB2061 called for pregnancy exclusion and this proposal, this striker is supposed to be a compromise. Shaming and threatening pregnant women who are qualified mmj patients doesn’t feel like a compromise to me and I don’t think it feels like a compromise to those 10,000 Arizona women. This is not a compromise our state should even consider.

This is not a defense of smoking cannabis for there are many ways it can be consumed. This is a call for our state to recognize medical science, patients’ rights, and the intent of the original Prop 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. I am prepared to take questions.

They did not have any questions for me.

The bill passed out of committee 7-0: Barto (R), Yee (R), Begay (R), Katie Hobbs (D), Pancrazi (D), Bradley (D), Lesko (R). It will still have to face a vote by the whole Senate and only needs 9 senators to block it. You know the drill:

We at Arizona NORML are calling on you to call or email your state legislators today to express your support for HB2007 & HB2406.

Here is a sample message.

 Hey, my name is ________ and I live in LD ___ [Don’t know what legislature district you live in? Check here] I am calling to speak with my senator about HB2061. I would like to register my opposition to this bill. It goes counter to good public health policy and I encourage Sen. _____________________________ to vote for it. I also request to be scheduled for a meeting with the Sen. to discuss my position on cannabis with him/her asap.

Sincerely,

Your Name

If you should decide to schedule a meeting Arizona NORML would be happy to assist you in preparing for and attending the meeting. Contact 928-234-5633 for further details.

Senate Roster

–Mikel Weisser writes from the Left Coast of Arizona