Marijuana often demonstrates the ability to win over even the most conservative of individuals. That said, winning over the hearts and minds of America’s vast regions isn’t complete until cannabis endears itself to the nation’s most conservative citizens and lawmakers in the southeast. 

Recent activity indicates that it may just be happening.

Commonly known as the Deep South, the region is the Bible Belt’s shiny, conservative buckle. It’s where conservative viewpoints almost always win out. There, progressive agendas like cannabis reform often face an uphill battle that rivals that of Sisyphus. 

Last week, Katelyn A. Kesheimer, Ph.D., was supposed to be in Colorado at the National Hemp Research & Education in Colorado. The conference, like much of life in general, was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

But that hasn’t stopped some from doing what they can to drive the industry forward this upcoming growing season. Instead, she and more than 70 other researchers from across the country joined a virtual meeting where they continued charting hemp’s future.

 “We have a vested interest in driving the research forward so growers can get the best crop,” she says.

The Alabama Senate voted 22 to 11 Thursday to allow the use of medical marijuana for certain medical conditions. 

The vote on the bill, sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, came after about 5 hours of often intense debate. It goes to the House of Representatives, where it has faced difficulties in the past.

"There could have been more of an organized effort to slow it down, and I appreciate the body not doing that," Melson said after the vote. "We tried to address some very serious things. I’m not taking this bill lightly. It’s a big step for Alabama, and there’s still a long way to go."

Lawmakers in one of the last remaining US states where medical marijuana isn’t legal approved a bill that would allow patients in Alabama access to cannabis-based treatments. 

This week the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8 against 1, with one abstention, to move along a bill that would legalize cannabis for medical purposes in the state.

The bill introduced by Republican Senator and anesthesiologist Tim Melson will now advance to the full Senate for a vote.

Alabam State Senator Tim Melson (R) has introduced legislation that would legalize medical marijuana throughout the state, making Alabama the 34th state to do so.

Is medical marijuana heading to the Heart of Dixie? That’s what Alabama state Sen. Tim Melson is fixing to do.

Jon Hegeman’s newest crop looks like marijuana. It’s got towering, feathery flowers — aka buds — and those tell-tale multi-fingered leaves.

“This is the closest thing you’ll have in Alabama to marijuana,” says Hegeman, a hemp farmer and president and co-owner of Greenway Plants.

For the first time in almost 90 years, it’s now legal to grow hemp in the U.S., including in Alabama. The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp off a list of drugs the federal government says have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.

An Alabama commission tasked with studying medical cannabis has voted to recommend legalization. On Friday, the commission voted 12-6 in favor of legislation that would legalize and regulate medical cannabis in Alabama. Now, Republican Sen. Tim Melson, who chaired the commission, says the next move is to bring a draft of the bill reviewed by the group to the floor during the next legislative session. Melson will sponsor and introduce that bill at the start of the February 2020 session.