CRANBERRY TWP — Heather Shuker of Middlesex Township is one of many state residents hoping a medical cannabis bill will soon bring relief to a loved one.

“I hope my daughter can smile again,” she told a crowd that gathered at the Regional Learning Alliance in Cranberry Woods on Saturday. “I hope she can have a seizure free day.”

Shuker, whose 12-year-old daughter has intractable epilepsy, was one of a half-dozen speakers at the rally hosted by the Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis Society in support of state Senate Bill 3.

The bill, which passed the Senate in May and is now in the House, would legalize the drug for medical purposes.

Shuker said the medicine her daughter, Hannah, has been on has dangerous and painful side effects.

“The withdrawal she is going through now would put most adults in the hospital,” Shuker said.

But medical cannabis, she said, could reduce or eliminate her daughter’s seizures, like it has done for patients in other states where the drug is legal.

Senate Bill 3 received an affirmative 25-8 vote in the House Rules Committee last month.

Patrick Nightingale, executive director of the society, told the crowd he thinks the bill is close to passing after years of debate.

“The majority of legislators want to help,” he said. “I’m told we’re close.”

Nightingale said a medical cannabis bill was first introduced in the state in 2009.

The family members of loved ones suffering from diseases that could be helped with cannabis treatment say the legislative delays have caused prolonged suffering.

“These patients could have been well on their way to recovery,” Shuker said.

If passed, the use of cannabis would be limited to oils, edible products, ointments and tinctures. The legalization of smoking marijuana is not part of the bill.

Dr. Cyril Wecht, a nationally known pathologist and former Allegheny County Medical Examiner, said he is against legalizing marijuana for recreational use, but said it should be available for medical purposes.

“It’s absurd, scientifically immature and intellectually irresponsible for people to be opposed to the legalization of marijuana for medical use,” he said.

Wecht said the drug is safe and could help a number of patients.

“I have done, since 1957, about 20,000 autopsies and signed off on 40,000 others,” he said. “I have yet to see a death certificate from anybody, anywhere with a death attributed to (a cannabis overdose).

Wecht said prescription painkillers are becoming more popular and are deadly when abused, but don’t face the same criticism from lawmakers.

“These are the drugs that kill,” he said, adding the federal Food and Drug Administration recently approved expanded use of some opioid painkillers for children.

Joe McGurk of Beaver Falls was critical of lawmakers who have opposed the bill and told the crowd to contact them to voice their concerns.

McGurk said his two daughters, ages 10 and 13, have a form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome.

He said while there is no guarantee the drug would help his daughters, he wants the chance.

He told the story of a girl in another state who was having 30 to 40 seizures per day before trying medical cannabis.

“She has now been seizure free for a year and she has the same disease as my daughters,” he said. “I would love to have the opportunity.”

Shuker agreed lawmakers need to move forward with the bill.

“They’re withholding a plant that could save someone’s life,” she said. “They’re destroying families by making them move to other states where it is legal.”