Pubdate: Mon, 10 Feb 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Christina A. Cassidy, The Associated Press
Page: C3

MEDICAL POT GAINING IN DEEP SOUTH

Views on Marijuana Are Changing in Southern States

ATLANTA - Medical marijuana has been a non-starter in recent years in
the Deep South, where many Republican lawmakers feared it could lead
to widespread drug use and social ills. That now appears to be
changing, with proposals to allow a form of medical marijuana gaining
momentum in a handful of Southern states.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical
marijuana, and this year powerful GOP lawmakers in Georgia and Alabama
are putting their weight behind bills that would allow for the limited
use of cannabis oil by those with specific medical conditions. Other
Southern states are also weighing the issue with varying levels of
support.

The key to swaying the hearts of conservative lawmakers has been the
stories of children suffering up to 100 seizures a day whose parents
say they could benefit from access to cannabidiol, which would be
administered orally in a liquid form. And proponents argue the
cannabis oil is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive
compound in marijuana that makes users feel high.

"I'm an unlikely champion for this cause," said Georgia Rep. Allen
Peake, a businessman from Macon who attended the evangelical Dallas
Theological Seminary. "Once people realize it's not a 6-yearold
smoking a joint, most folks realize this is the compassionate thing to
do."

Peake's bill has already earned the backing of more than 80 state
lawmakers, including several members of the House Republican
leadership, who signed on as cosponsors and the state's largest
professional association of doctors. The bill would revive a
long-dormant research program allowing academic institutions to
distribute the medical cannabis and would be "limited in scope,
tightly restricted, well regulated and managed by doctors," Peake said.

Alabama Rep. Mike Ball is behind a bill that would allow people to
possess the cannabis oil if they have certain medical conditions. It
passed a key committee vote on Wednesday.

"The public is starting to understand what this is," said Ball, who
chairs a powerful House committee. "The political fear is shifting
from what will happen if we pass it, to what might happen if we
don't," Ball said.

The bills in Georgia and Alabama still have more vetting, and their
ultimate prospects are not certain. But what is happening offers a
strong signal of what's to come in other states.

In Louisiana, although a bill has yet to be introduced, a recent
committee hearing at the Capitol on legalizing medical marijuana drew
a standing-room-only crowd, and Gov. Bobby Jindal made comments last
month indicating he was willing to consider it.

Technically, both Georgia and Louisiana have laws on the books from
the 1980s and 1990s that allow for the use of medical marijuana, but
those programs essentially ended before they could start. Georgia's
law established the academic research program for those diagnosed with
glaucoma and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation,
but the program stalled when the federal government stopped delivery
of legal cannabis.

Louisiana's law allowed for glaucoma and cancer patients and those
suffering from spastic quadriplegia to receive marijuana for
therapeutic use but regulations to govern the program were never developed.

In Mississippi, Republican state Sen. Josh Harkins of Brandon is
sponsoring a cannabis oil bill similar to the ones in Alabama and
Georgia. Harkins said one of his constituents has a 20-month-old
daughter with Dravet syndrome, a form of pediatric epilepsy, and the
oil can help reduce the number of seizures.

Elsewhere, both Kentucky and Tennessee have medical marijuana bills
under consideration although they have yet to gain traction.

In Florida, it's likely to become a campaign issue in the fall given
that Gov. Rick Scott is up for re-election and a proposed
constitutional amendment will be on the ballot that would allow for
the medical use of marijuana as determined by a licensed physician.
Former Republican Gov. Charlie Christ, now a Democrat seeking to
challenge Scott, has called it "an issue of compassion, trusting
doctors and trusting the people of Florida."
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MAP posted-by: Matt