Breaking news: Fix for CBD oil law won’t get vote

Updated, 2:25 p.m.: A proposed fix for a flaw in Lydia’s Law will likely be waiting until at least the fall.

With Sen. Scott Fitzgerald’s office confirming that ballots had been issued and the calendar for Tuesday’s Senate session finalized, it appears that Assembly Bill 228 will not get a vote. The bill addresses a red-tape flaw in Lydia’s Law, which allows the use of cannabadiol (low-THC level oil without hallucinogenic effects) to treat epilepsy.

Myranda Tanck of Sen.Fitzgerald’s office said that the state Republican caucus had “concerns” about the bill. However, according to Sen. Van Wanggaard, he had support from 29 of 33 senators to vote for the bill.

The State Senate Organization Committee – comprised of Sens. Fitzgerald, Mary Lazich, Leah Vukmir, Jennifer Schilling and Dave Hansen – declined scheduling Assembly Bill 228 for a vote Monday. Wanggaard, R-Racine, and fellow Sen. Bob Wirch, D-Kenosha, co-authored a letter to the committee Thursday urging the bill be placed on the agenda for a vote, saying it had been narrowly worded to “tell parents that if you have CBD Oil to treat a seizure disorder, and a Wisconsin-licensed doctor signed off on it, Wisconsin will not charge you with a crime.”

AB  228 would make it legal to have cannabadiol (or CBD oil) through a licensed hospital or clinic to treat epilepsy, and remove the clinical trial clause that was added before it went into effect in 2014.

After the bill passed through the State Assembly in mid-February, the bill that would have eliminated the red tape that keeps the original law from working to give families dealing with epilepsy access to CBD as a potential treatment was sent to the State Senate for scheduling Feb. 17.

However, Monday’s inaction will likely doom any scheduling hopes. Lydia’s mother, Sally, said there was a small chance a vote could be taken out of schedule, but it was unlikely to happen.

Lydia died on Mother’s Day in 2014 from a seizure, less than a month after Gov. Scott Walker signed Lydia’s Law into effect. She had been suffering, according to her families, seizures almost non-stop through the night for several years. Lydia had been diagnosed with Kleefstra Syndrome – a genetic disorder that causes development delays, low muscle tone and learning disorders – shortly after her birth. Her mother had fought for years for Lydia’s quality of life, and then also for access to CBD oil when it first began getting attention in Colorado as stopping seizures in other patients.

Schaeffer wrote in a Facebook post, “This not only hurts my heart but baffles me.” Other families throughout the state have been working to get the bill passed as well, and Schaeffer has even taken the issue to Washington, D.C. to try to get national legislation started.

For the full story, see the print editions of the Burlington Standard Press, Waterford Post and Westine Report this week.