Pubdate: Mon, 10 Feb 2014
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2014 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Christina A. Cassidy, Associated Press

CANNABIS OIL SMOOTHS WAY FOR CHANGE

In the South, Support Grows for Legalizing a Derivative of Pot to
Treat Sick Children

ATLANTA (AP) - Medical marijuana has been a nonstarter 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 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 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-year-old
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, a retired hostage negotiator for the State
Patrol, is behind a bill that would allow people to possess cannabis
oil if they have certain medical conditions. It passed a key committee
vote Wednesday.

"The public is starting to understand what this is," said Ball, who
chairs a House committee and is a prominent voice on law enforcement
issues.

The bills in Georgia and Alabama still have more vetting, and their
ultimate prospects are uncertain. 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 large crowd, and Gov. Bobby Jindal made comments last month
indicating he was willing to consider it.

"When it comes to medical marijuana ... if there is a legitimate
medical need, I'd certainly be open to making it available under very
strict supervision for patients that would benefit from that," Jindal
said, according to a report in The Advocate.

Technically, both Georgia and Louisiana have laws on the books from
the 1980s and 1990s that allow for use of medical marijuana, but those
programs essentially ended before they could start. Georgia's law
established an 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 20month-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. Kentucky
Senate President Rover Stivers, R-Manchester, has said he's not
convinced marijuana has legitimate medical purposes and called it an
area ripe for abuse.

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
medical use of marijuana as determined by a licensed physician.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has signaled a willingness to discuss
medicine that might be derived from marijuana with appropriate federal
regulation.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has declined to take a position but noted the
"strong case being presented by some of the families with very serious
situations involving their children."  
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