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Although Mayor Vince Gray recently signed a bill to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, D.C.’s medical marijuana laws are still too restrictive, many advocates think.

But that could change. Tomorrow, Councilmembers Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) and David Grosso (I-At Large)—along with co-introducers Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), David Catania (I-At Large), Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5), Anita Bonds (D-At Large), and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8)—will introduce an amendment to D.C.’s medical marijuana law that would scrub the list of qualifying conditions to receive a medical marijuana prescription and instead leave it in the hands of a patient’s physician. The amendment states that it would “expand the definition of a qualifying medical condition to allow physicians to determine whether a patient would benefit from medical marijuana treatment.”

Under the current law, only those diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, or severe muscle spasms are eligible to receive prescriptions for medical marijuana. At a health roundtable led by Alexander last fall, advocates testified that the current laws are too restrictive and those suffering from conditions like Crohn’s disease, PTSD, and epilepsy—of which marijuana has been proven to be an effective treatment—aren’t able to receive prescriptions.

Over the past several months, Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) has been pushing hard to amend D.C.’s medical marijuana laws to expand the list of qualifying conditions. “This is a big deal and a big shift,” Grosso told DCist over the phone, “and I hope we can get it through [the Council] quickly.” Grosso said he’s been working hard with the Council to get this bill proposal drafted and that ultimately it was Dr. Joxel Garcia, the director of the Department of Health, who ultimately convinced the Council to move forward on this issue. At a D.C. Council oversight hearing, Garcia said that he thought there shouldn’t be a list of qualifying conditions, but that it should be an issue between the doctor and the patient. “We got educated on the council to the point where we felt comfortable doing this,” Grosso says.

But even if the bill passes, Grosso says that D.C. will still have one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country, mainly because of the complicated process for doctors to be able to write prescriptions. “You’re not going to see a bunch of doctors [writing] new prescriptions,” Grosso says, “maybe about three or four [who will be] willing to write prescriptions.” Currently there’s many steps doctors have to go through to be able to write medical marijuana prescriptions.

Grosso says he’s trying to get the Department of Health to “be a little more open with the forms and processes” so it can be easier for doctor’s to comply with the current regulations. Gross says he’d like it to be just one form for doctors, and something that should “all be done electronically.”