The Alabama legislature ended its 2021 regular session May 17 with no action on gambling expansion in the state. (Click here to read about efforts to expand gambling during the 2021 session.)
Legislators also declined to vote on a bill that would have criminalized hormone treatments and surgeries for minors with gender dysphoria, often referred to as transgender treatment.
On Monday, legislators passed a bill to allow yoga instruction in public schools as long as the practice is used as exercise and English names are used for the poses and exercises, lifting a decades-long prohibition on yoga.
Bills signed
On May 14, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed into a law a bill that allows home delivery of certain products containing alcohol. The law goes into effect October 1 and will allow beer, wine and spirits to be delivered to residents age 21 and older.
On May 17, Ivey signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana. That bill passed May 6 and allows people with a qualifying medical condition and a doctor’s written certification to purchase products containing THC, which is the primary ingredient in marijuana that makes people feel “high.”
THC is prohibited under federal law, but many states have legalized its use for treating certain conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, HIV/AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain and severe nausea.
Click here to read more about that bill.
Alabama lawmakers are expected to meet in a special session later this year to redraw legislative and congressional district lines based on the 2020 census. The next regular legislative session will begin in January 2022.
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