This Caribbean-Born Senator Is Persistent In His Medical Marijuana Push

St. Croix Senator Terrance ‘Positive’ Nelson this week reintroduced the Virgin Islands Medical Cannabis Patient Care Act or MCPCA.

By NAN Contributor

News Americas, CHARLOTTE AMALIE, St. Croix, Fri. July 27, 2017: A lawmaker in the US territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands has been persistent in his push to get medical marijuana legalized here.

St. Croix Senator Terrance ‘Positive’ Nelson this week reintroduced the Virgin Islands Medical Cannabis Patient Care Act or MCPCA which calls for nationals be allowed to possess up to four ounces of marijuana for medical purposes and to help with diseases like cancer, glaucoma, PTSD, chronic pain, muscle spasms, hospice care, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.

The bill also calls for patients to be issued registry identification cards as well as the creation of testing and production facilities and dispensaries on the island.

Nelson, in a media statement, said that he is fulfilling his obligation to the people who supported his November 2014 ballot initiative for medicinal marijuana in the Virgin Islands.

“The overall goal of the Medical Cannabis Patient Care Act proposal is to allow patients’ access to the beneficial use of medical cannabis in a regulated system for alleviating symptoms caused by debilitating medical conditions and for their medical treatments,” he added.

Last year, a similar bill did not make it past the committee stage but in 2014, the Senate overrode a veto to decriminalize cannabis possession, with those 18 and over in possession be fined instead of jailed.