Voters may get say on medical cannabis

Unfortunately, some state leaders have bought into that misguided idea. Gov. Nathan Deal has in the past opposed in-state cultivation. State agriculture commissioner Gary Black (who is from Jackson County) is also opposed to cultivation if it involves his agency. And some key legislative leaders are afraid of how the federal government is going to react if the state allows medical cultivation. Rather than moving forward, those leaders say they want to wait and let the feds take action first before the state does anything.

But that’s just a copout. Those same leaders who say they want to follow federal regulations on this issue are all too eager to disobey other federal rules they don’t agree with.

The issue of medical marijuana is one where the public is far ahead of the politicians. This is one issue that crosses party lines and is supported by a vast majority of citizens across the state. One of the major groups that supports access to medical marijuana are veterans who want easy and legal access to help treat PTSD and pain.

A few politicians are starting to listen. One Republican candidate for governor, Sen. Michael Williams, has openly embraced medical cannabis in his campaign. According to an AJC story, Williams’ father was a Vietnam veteran who suffered from PTSD and eventually committed suicide when Williams was 14-years-old.

But too many other politicians are soft on this subject, scared that if they embrace medical marijuana cultivation some political opponent will try and distort that during upcoming elections. The public, however, has moved far beyond that.

Those who read this column on a regular basis know that this issue is personal to me. I have an adult son who suffers from life-threatening seizures. He’s had two brain surgeries, an implant and has tried every anti-seizure medicine available. Nothing has worked to stop his seizures.

So he uses cannabis oil on occasion. It’s not clear how much it helps, but since nothing else has worked, there’s no harm in trying.

But getting that oil isn’t easy since it’s not produced in-state.

A couple of years ago, I grew (illegally) a marijuana plant from a seed in a small bid to bring attention to the issue of cultivation. I wrote about that plant and live-streamed its growth on-line.

The response was huge. All kinds of people from all walks of life contacted me. I was asked to speak to a number of civic organizations. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a negative comment from anyone. Some of the most touching comments came from ministers, healthcare workers and veterans, all of whom understood how medical marijuana can be beneficial for some serious medical conditions.

I also went to Minnesota to visit a medical cannabis production lab that operates under that state’s laws. It’s the Minnesota model that those in Georgia pushing for medical marijuana want to emulate.

The really disturbing aspect surrounding this issue is that the federal government — Congress and the President — could resolve most of the issues by allowing more medical research on medical marijuana. Currently, marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug under federal rules, meaning that it has no valid medical use. (President Richard Nixon had it listed as a Schedule 1 drug as political payback to marijuana-smoking “hippies” who didn’t support him.)

But according to research from other countries, cannabis does have valid medical properties. Those, however, won’t be fully explored until Congress acts to take marijuana off the Schedule 1 listing.

I get asked a lot what people should do who support expanding access to medical marijuana. The biggest thing citizens can do is to contact both their state and federal officials, — and this year’s candidates for those offices — and let them know it’s time to allow in-state medical cultivation and to take marijuana off the Schedule 1 list. Email, letters and phone calls go a long way toward affecting how your public officials vote and they will go a long way in shaping how candidates for governor and other offices will shape their policies.

The other thing citizens can do is to encourage local law enforcement agencies to stop demonizing marijuana by treating possession of small amounts with a citation and not an arrest. The Braselton and Jefferson police departments generally handle small amounts of marijuana with a citation, similar to a speeding ticket, rather than by booking someone in jail.

Other local departments should do the same thing and start the process of destigmatizing a plant that holds so much medical promise.

Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Mainstreet Newspapers. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.