Soon it might not just be humans holding medical marijuana patient cards (or something like it): Legislators in Nevada have introduced a bill that would allow pet owners to treat their sick animals with medical pot.
Sen. Tick Segerblom is sponsoring a measure that would let owners get marijuana if a veterinarian signs off and says an animal could benefit from the drug, reports the Associated Press. Pot’s effectiveness as a painkiller hasn’t been proven yet, however.
Some owners have said that their pets’ pain was alleviated by cannabis, including an L.A. vet who told the AP that his Siberian husky’s pain was eased in her final weeks after she’d had surgery to remove tumors. She was able to put on weight and lived six weeks until she had to be put to sleep.
“I grew tired of euthanizing pets when I wasn’t doing everything I could to make their lives better,” he told the AP. “I felt like I was letting them down.”
There are already critics: Sen. Mark Manendo, an animal rights advocate, said he wasn’t familiar with the idea of giving pot to pets.
“That gives me pause,” he said. “Alcohol is bad, chocolate is bad for dogs.”
Segerblom acknowledged that there’s a potential for some animals to react badly to cannabis, but said, “you don’t know until you try.”
There are many things that would have to happen to make this bill become law, which might not be terribly easy. The cannabis for canines and cats measure is part of a larger bill that seeks to overhaul Nevada’s medical marijuana law.
Nevada bill would allow sick pets to use medical marijuana [Associated Press]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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