February 9, Wisconsin Health News

The Senate has approved a proposal that would lift state penalties for possession of a drug derived from marijuana used to treat seizures in children. 

The bill passed 31-1, with Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, casting the no vote. An Assembly Committee is set to take up the proposal next week. 

The bill, which is similar to a proposal that was blocked from passage in the Senate last year, would allow patients to possess CBD oil without facing a state penalty if they have certification from their doctor. The federal government has designated the drug Schedule I, still making it illegal.

"Parents shouldn't have to risk jail time to treat their children," the bill's author, Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said in a statement. "It is a sense of relief that we can ease the suffering and fear that too many parents experience trying to improve the lives of their children."