Pubdate: Tue, 31 Jul 2012
Source: Norman Transcript (OK)
Copyright: 2012 The Norman Transcript
Contact:  http://www.normantranscript.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/552

A MEDICAL OPTIMIST

In California, sandwich-board walkers advertise where to get legal
marijuana for medicinal reasons and what symptoms will get you a
prescription.

In Oklahoma, a proponent of medical marijuana can't get a hearing from
the conservative state legislature on her bill. Sen. Constance
Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, remains optimistic.

"The legislative process moves slowly. It's taken seven years just to
get a study, and even that's not a given," Johnson said. "I'm an
eternal optimist, and I'm optimistic that it will get a hearing one
day. Things are changing.

"More and more people are going to speak up and speak out, and that's
how change happens, when it happens at the grassroots level."

The Republican-controlled Senate recently approved a study on the
benefits of medicinal marijuana. In a speech in Norman earlier this
month, the head of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs vowed to fight any bill that promotes the use of what he called
a "gateway drug."

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia currently have medicinal
marijuana laws enacted. But don't look for an Oklahoma bill any time
soon. Johnson has introduced a bill each year since she took office in
2005.
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