{"id":7892,"date":"2017-11-30T06:03:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T06:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=6873"},"modified":"2017-11-30T06:03:20","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T06:03:20","slug":"va-state-health-committee-endorses-medical-cannabis-oils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/va-state-health-committee-endorses-medical-cannabis-oils\/","title":{"rendered":"VA: State Health Committee Endorses Medical Cannabis Oils"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/va-state-health-committee-endorses-medical-cannabis-oils\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Doctors should be able to prescribe a pair of cannabis compounds and agencies around the state should better share statistics to track the heroin epidemic, according to recommendations made Tuesday by Virginia\u2019s Joint Commission on Health Care.<\/p>\n<p>Staff for the committee, which is made up of legislators from the state Senate and House of Delegates, received more than 750 comments from the public \u2014 both individuals and organizations \u2014 regarding its presentation on the therapeutic and detrimental effects of THC-A and CBD oils, both cannabis compounds that don\u2019t produce the high associated with marijuana. A staff report stated that there is limited research to support the use of THC-A or CBD to treat a wide variety of medical conditions, though there is strong evidence that it helps with symptoms of multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Siobhan S. Dunnavant, R-Henrico, suggested the committee propose that the General Assembly introduce legislation to allow physicians to recommend the use of THC-A or CBD oils for any condition that they think might benefit from them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the idea here is that this is a therapeutic modality that may really be valuable for some of our citizens,\u201d Dunnavant said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to let this be an abusive situation, but let\u2019s not negate the opportunity for it to be a therapeutic option.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dunnavant\u2019s suggestion passed through the rest of the committee.<\/p>\n<p>The committee also considered staffing requirements for assisted living facilities. Currently, Virginia code requires that those facilities have a staff that is adequate to meet the needs of residents, but it does not have a required minimum staff-to-resident ratio for those facilities.<\/p>\n<p>The staff\u2019s presentation identified needs that some assisted living facilities have, particularly those that accept auxiliary grants, a state grant program that pays for room and board for individuals who meet certain income criteria. The grants are necessary because neither Medicare nor Medicaid pay for those costs, and without them assisted living would be available only for those who can pay privately.<\/p>\n<p>The committee decided Tuesday to recommend that the General Assembly increase the auxiliary grant rate \u2014 which is currently only $1,220, and covers only 28 percent of what Genworth Financial estimates the monthly cost of a resident will be in 2019 \u2014 to an amount to be determined. It also urged the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to direct the Department of Social Services to look into enhancing data reporting capabilities on inspection results and violations.<\/p>\n<p>The increase in heroin use in Virginia was also a topic of conversation for the committee, which voted to recommend that the General Assembly require all state and local agencies, including law enforcement and Community Services Boards, among others, share their data on the use of heroin in the state. The staff report especially highlighted a lack of coordinated data on naloxone use in the state, which the suggestion could help remedy.<\/p>\n<p>The committee avoided a vote on recommending that the Department of Health or the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services study the feasibility of \u201csafe-injection\u201d sites \u2014 more commonly called needle exchanges \u2014 for the use of heroin and other drugs, which could help stem the spread of HIV and hepatitis C among drug users.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/va-state-health-committee-endorses-medical-cannabis-oils.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Ron Strider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.richmond.com\/life\/health\/state-health-committee-endorses-medical-cannabis-oils\/article_1385e4d0-baf7-54aa-9db5-6fa5309fc137.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State health committee endorses medical cannabis oils | Health | richmond.com<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: KATIE O\u2019CONNOR<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.richmond.com\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contact the Richmond Times-Dispatch | richmond.com<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: Shutterstock<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.richmond.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">richmond.com | Richmond, Virginia news, business, sports, entertainment, restaurants, events, arts and shopping<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Doctors should be able to prescribe a pair of cannabis compounds and agencies around the state should better share statistics&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2017\/11\/va-state-health-committee-endorses-medical-cannabis-oils\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1614,9,1,3],"tags":[4182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}