FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Medical marijuana advocates achieved a long-sought victory Thursday, when Kentucky lawmakers gave final passage to a measure to legalize access to medical cannabis for people suffering from a defined list of debilitating illnesses.

In the waning hours of this year's legislative session, the Republican-dominated House voted 66-33 to send the measure to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Supporters pushed the bill over the finish line after years of setbacks, when other versions to open Kentucky to legal medical cannabis died.

“This is a truly historic day here in the commonwealth and one that many people deserve — especially the constituents who’ve approached me over the years to share their stories,” Republican Sen. Stephen West, the bill's lead sponsor, said in a triumphant statement after the House vote.

Kentuckians with qualified medical conditions will have to wait to gain access to medical cannabis under the bill. Senate Bill 47 specifies that the medical marijuana program won't take effect until the start of 2025, to allow time for state health officials to draft regulations to oversee the program.

The governor took executive action last year to relax the state's prohibition on medical cannabis, but he has said it’s no substitute for outright legalization, which required legislative approval. Beshear's action allows Kentuckians suffering from a number of severe health conditions to legally possess small amounts of medical marijuana properly purchased in another state.

Under the bill headed to the governor's desk, medical cannabis could be prescribed for a list of conditions, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, epilepsy, chronic nausea and post-traumatic stress disorder. The bill would prohibit smokable cannabis products.

“We need your help to make us be safer, so we don’t have to use all these pharmaceuticals and opioids,” longtime medical marijuana advocate Eric Crawford told a House committee that advanced the bill earlier Thursday. “Help us not be criminals. Let’s legalize this for sick people.”

Under the bill, a person would have to be approved for a card allowing its use. A patient under 18 couldn’t possess or acquire medical cannabis without assistance from a designated caregiver.

The bill gained a crucial breakthrough in mid-March when it was passed by the Senate, where some earlier versions had died in the past. Republicans have supermajorities in both legislative chambers.

The bill's opponents kept up their resistance even with the House poised to pass it.

Michael Johnson, representing The Family Foundation, told the House committee on Thursday that he's “truly sympathetic” for people suffering from chronic pain and other debilitating illnesses. But he claimed there's “insufficient scientific evidence that marijuana is safe and effective as a medication.”

The bill's leading proponents said they were open to revisions in next year's legislative session. That includes making it clear that school districts would be allowed to prohibit its employees, including school nurses, from administering medical marijuana products to students, they said.

“This is a long, complicated bill that’s been hammered out over a five-year period," West told the House panel. "It’s clear there are going to be technical changes in the future, next year I’m sure.”

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Chirine Touati is one of the millions of people in the U.S. who use marijuana for medical purposes.

“This is concentrated cannabis oil, and then what I do is I put it under my tongue,” said Touati.

She has a medical marijuana card in Utah. Touati uses marijuana to help deal with chronic pain.

“I get really bad burning pain in my feet that can travel all the way the way up my leg and even across my shoulders,” said Touati. “I have multiple sclerosis and I’ve had it for most of my life. I was diagnosed in 2006.”

She says the pain will keep her in bed most of the day on bad days.

She says medical marijuana is the most effective treatment for her pain.

But she says there are many obstacles that keep people like her from getting fair access to medical cannabis in Utah.

She's not alone.

“When we’re talking about access to medicine we’re talking about distance, how far is a patient traveling, how easy is it for a patient to get a medical card, how easy is it for them to have a conversation with their doctor about the topic. All those are little tiny barriers to a patient having access,” said Christine Steinquest, an advocate in Utah who helped pass the state’s medical cannabis law.

While that was a huge step forward, she says the barriers are preventing some patients from getting the care they need.

There are 14 dispensaries in Utah. Michigan, which is just slightly bigger than Utah in square miles, has 410.

“We would like patients to have reasonable access. It’s unreasonable to me to have a patient drive an hour to a dispensary. That’s not realistic. So we have a ways to go,” said Steinquest.

It’s not just a Utah problem. People in other states also say access is a major concern.

“There are some people that need to drive farther than 60 miles,” said Gayle Peterson, a registered nurse in North Dakota.

“One of the biggest things is (a) provider. Quite often, your own doctor you’ve had for many, many years doesn’t want to touch the stuff. Or we’ve heard of larger facilities saying, 'Nope, our providers cannot certify patients for it,'” said Peterson.

Meaning patients may have to seek out specific doctors to prescribe medical marijuana.

Finding a doctor is just one barrier. Price can be another issue for patients.

Touati says the oils she uses can get quite expensive.

“For a gram, it was over $100, for sure,” said Touati.

“It’s very expensive in this state, I mean there’s no way. It would be like a house payment. A couple grand a month,” she added.

Right now, there are bills in several states, including Utah, to examine or expand access to medical cannabis use. They would increase the types of products available to patients, allow patients to grow plants at home and expand access to CBD products among other things.

But Steinquest sees a long road ahead for nationwide access to patients.

“Is there a state with a perfect balance yet? No, I don’t think there is yet. I think we need some more federal action so that business can operate in a manner that makes sense and then maybe we’ll start to see some changes across the board that affect everybody,” she said.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Researchers at the University of California San Diego are launching the first-ever placebo-controlled study into the effects of marijuana on migraines.

"This has never been studied before," said Dr. Nathaniel Schuster, the lead researcher on the project.

"We want to know whether it is more effective than placebo, whether it is beneficial for the headache part of migraine, whether it's helpful for the other parts of migraine."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), migraines affect 15.3% of the U.S. population.

Studies on it have been rare because the federal government still classifies marijuana as an illegal, Schedule A drug. But marijuana is legal in California for medicinal and recreational use.

Schuster and his team spent several years working with the government to get all of the necessary approvals for a formal study. The government will also supply medical-grade marijuana.

Participants in the study will get four different doses to use on four separate headaches. They'll report their results through an app.

"The patients don't know which one is which," explained Dr. Schuster. "We'll give one of them with THC, one of them with the THC/CBD mixture, one of them with CBD, and one of them with placebo."

Dr. Schuster hopes this study will finally put some scientific data behind something that's become common practice. He says about 30% of medical marijuana users already take it to treat some form of headache.

"We know many people are doing it. Now, we're going to give doctors and patients some data so that they know whether it's effective and for what parts of migraine," Dr. Schuster said.

"I think it's great," said Dr. Jack Schrim, the co-director of the Headache Center of Southern California.

He's already referred several patients to participate in the study.

"Until very recently, the research has been lacking," he said.

Dr. Schrim says he has many patients who ask him about marijuana for their migraines. Often, he doesn't know what to recommend because there isn't enough information.

"What's really changing now is better science, better research that can help us link the understanding of the receptors for cannabinoids, which are actually within our nervous system and have evolved over hundreds of millions of years, to the possibility of treatment," he said.

People interested in participating in the study should contact Research Coordinator Phirum Nguyen directly at psnguyen@ucsd.edu or 858-822-3108. Participants cannot already be regular marijuana or opioid users. They also must get migraines at least once per month.

This story was originally published by Jared Aarons at KGTV.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Diagnosed with cancer seven years ago, Kentucky Republican state Sen. Dan Seum said doctors gave him a "nice bottle of Oxycontin," a legal opioid-based prescription painkiller that has led to a spike in overdose deaths throughout the state.

"I threw it in the garbage can and went home and smoked a joint," the 77-year-old lawmaker said. "And guess what? No nausea. I was able to function. I was going through the (chemo) treatment. It was during the legislative session, I did not miss a day due to nausea from the cancer."

Seum was one of a bipartisan group of Kentucky lawmakers on Wednesday who introduced a bill that would make marijuana legal in Kentucky for medical purposes only. The proposal comes weeks after the U.S. Congress, led by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, passed a farm bill that effectively legalized hemp, a crop that comes from the same plant that produces marijuana.

Medical marijuana is legal in 33 other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Kentucky House of Representatives flipped to Republican control in 2017, giving the GOP complete control of state government. Since then, support for the bill has been growing among the Republican majority. That includes GOP Rep. Jason Nemes, who said he was opposed to medical marijuana when he first ran for the legislature in 2016 but has since changed his mind.

"I am quite confident a majority of House members support it," Nemes said. "If we get a vote, the numbers will be above 60."

But the bill is unlikely to get a vote in the 100-member state House of Representatives this year. House Majority Floor Leader John "Bam" Carney, who controls which bills get called for a vote to the House floor, said he would not call the bill for a vote if the state Senate would not support it. Wednesday, Republican Senate President Robert Stivers called marijuana "a gateway drug" and said he had seen no credible studies showing marijuana had medicinal value other than "it makes you feel good."

"We're going to smoke marijuana and outlaw tobacco? That's a little inconsistent to me," Stivers said.

The 149-page bill includes regulations for growers, processers and dispensers. Michael Raus, founder of Kentucky Bluegrass Cannabis, said it has the potential to create a $100 million industry in the state.

The bill still would not let people could smoke marijuana in public, but the proposal is silent on what they could do with it in their own homes. Other restrictions would include a ban on advertising, requiring plants to be grown indoors under lock and key and a program to monitor inventory. Republican Rep. Diane St. One said the proposal would even let low-income people grow up to six marijuana plants in their homes, but only if doctors prescribe it and local law enforcement agencies know about it.

Seum he would provide studies on the medical benefits of marijuana to Republican Senate leaders, adding he felt no unease about admitting publicly to smoking marijuana. He also outed one of his 24 grandchildren, saying she "partakes" of marijuana to treat her epilepsy.

"Wouldn't it be nice if my granddaughter was no longer a criminal," he said.