Sharp distinctions were drawn Wednesday night between the two candidates in the nonpartisan race for mayor of Athens-Clarke County, but a debate sponsored by the Young Democrats of UGA also revealed a point of near-agreement between incumbent Nancy Denson and her challenger - no relation - local activist Tim Denson. The mayor used Wednesday's debate on the UGA campus, in front of dozens of students, a handful of Athens residents and a couple of commission candidates, to announce for the first time that she favors the decriminalization of possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. [continues 557 words]
An open letter to state Rep. Sharon Cooper: As a parent pushing for life-saving medical cannabis here in Georgia for my daughter who suffers from severe seizures and developmental delays, I had hoped as an elected official, you would not resort to outright lies to push your agenda ("Research needed, complexity abounds," Opinion, Feb. 14), especially at the expense of sick children. Your op-ed painted a picture that we are seeking unresearched, untested, dangerous medicine for our children, and nothing could be further from the truth. The medicine we seek is already doctor-approved, lab-tested and safer than then numerous FDA-approved drugs our children take today. I also can't understand why you would do this about a bill (House Bill 885) that you have voted in favor of twice now. Please correct your facts the next time you speak publicly and try to use scare tactics to prevent our children from getting life-saving medicine. BLAINE CLOUD, SMYRNA [end]
ATLANTA - A Georgia Senate panel this week unanimously approved a newly-revised bill that would legalize marijuana derivatives in Georgia for treatment of patients with cancer, glaucoma and seizure disorders. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee amended House Bill 885, the original House version of the medical marijuana bill, to make it easier for Georgians to gain access to cannabidiol oil, a non-psychoactive derivative of marijuana. The major change would grant immunity from prosecution in Georgia for possession of CBD oil obtained legally in a state that permits the use of medical marijuana. [continues 664 words]
ATLANTA -- A state Senate panel unanimously approved possession in Georgia of a single type of medicine derived from cannabis, with the state's prosecutors signed onto a plan that violates federal law. The measure offers "protection from prosecution for possession of cannabidiol oil" used for seizure treatment, said state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, who made the edit on his own House Bill 885 in front of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday afternoon. The oil is made from a strain of marijuana that is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that delivers the plant's high. The plant is rich in cannabidiol, which is non-hallucinogenic and which relieves severe seizures in some afflicted children. [continues 590 words]
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 443,000 people die from tobacco each year; 8.6 million live with a life-threatening illness, and approximately 46.6 million Americans continue to use the drug. Like tobacco, alcohol is abused by numerous Americans. Over 80,000 deaths are caused by excessive drinking yearly in the U.S. However, both tobacco and alcohol are legal and sold at a store nearby. Two of the top three killers in America are sold at grocery stores and gas stations. [continues 283 words]
A drug that counteracts overdoses on opioid drugs such as heroine, OxyContin and morphine is now available to the public for free. The drug is called Naloxone, and it isn't a new drug; patients in ambulances and emergency rooms get this antidotal drug when it is required. Though this drug sounds amazing, many have voiced concerns that it doesn't help drug users get clean and instead makes them take higher doses of drugs because they don't have to worry about fatal overdoses. [continues 176 words]
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." That old adage certainly fits a scenario playing out in the Georgia General Assembly. House Bill 885 or "Haleigh's Hope Act" - better known around the Gold Dome as the medical marijuana bill - began as a tightly drawn bill to provide children with intractable seizures access to an oil derived from a specific marijuana strain available only in Colorado. This little-known product is "manufactured" by a group of marijuana-growing siblings - not physicians or scientists. It gained national notoriety thanks to the CNN special "Weed" and anecdotal reports by families of their children's seemingly miraculous cures. As we studied this bill, we found that this oil hasn't been tested for purity or consistency, and it hasn't been tested in animals. [continues 517 words]
I am 17 years old, and I suffer from severe Crohn's Disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. I have struggled with this disease for two years now, and spent my Christmas vacation at Scottish Rite in Atlanta full of IVs, being fed through a catheter run under my bicep into my chest cavity, in agonizing pain, losing blood, and on the verge of needing a total removal of my colon. I dropped from 170 pounds to 135, all on a 6-foot 2-inch frame. [continues 649 words]
Legislators may pass the Haleigh's Hope Act before the session ends next week, improving access to a form of medical marijuana for children like her who suffer from seizure disorders. But Haleigh won't be in Georgia for the occasion. "Haleigh quit breathing six times last night, so we don't have time anymore," her mother, Janea Cox, told me Wednesday. Mother and daughter left Thursday for Colorado, which already has legalized the cannabis oil that has helped other children reduce the number of debilitating seizures they suffer from as many as hundreds every day to as few as one every few months. [continues 614 words]
ATLANTA -- The federal barriers between Georgians and an epilepsy medicine made from cannabis are so insurmountable that the Macon representative who is championing the cause plans to propose licensing nonprofit dispensaries in Georgia. "I'm going to provide that as an option to include in our next draft of the bill," said state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, if a Senate committee hears his House Bill 885 by a key legislative deadline Wednesday. Peake won nearly universal House support for his original bill, which said that Georgia's medical research universities could grow a type of cannabis that's high in cannabidiol, or CBD, and make liquid epilepsy medicine from it. Such CBD-rich liquids are nonhallucinogenic and are already used in Britain and Colorado to treat children who have intractable, severe epilepsy disorders. [continues 215 words]
Georgia Children With Severe Seizure Disorder Are Closer to Treatment. The Georgia House on Monday gave overwhelming approval to a bill that would legalize a type of medical marijuana to treat certain seizure disorders. Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the sponsor of House Bill 885, said it's an important step toward saving the lives of children who can suffer 100 or more seizures a day. The particular strain of marijuana, known as Charlotte's Web, has shown it can ease or eliminate symptoms of patients taking the cannabis oil derived from the plant. [continues 435 words]
ATLANTA (AP) - Patients diagnosed with certain illnesses could take a form of medical marijuana under a plan that Georgia's state legislators backed Monday ahead of an important deadline that sorts out which bills go forward and which will likely fail for the year. Legislative rules force Georgia's state lawmakers to get their bills approved by at least one chamber of the General Assembly by what's commonly called "Crossover Day," or else those bills are unlikely to get to the governor's desk. That rule can be bent, but it is difficult. [continues 496 words]
There's no doubt that Georgia's law enforcement officials dislike strings that restrict civil asset forfeiture, which is the power of law enforcement to seize and keep property suspected of being involved in criminal activity. They've told state legislators that, time and again. For the rest of Georgia, however, it's a problem. Unlike with criminal asset forfeiture, under civil forfeiture the owner of the property being seized does not have to be charged with a crime. Cash, cars, homes and other property can be taken without even filing charges, let alone convicting the property's owner of a crime. [continues 598 words]
Never in her life did Corey Lowe think her native Georgia would even consider allowing medical marijuana, but now she's hopeful that lawmakers have heard her pleas for a chance to help her improve her child's life with the drug. The Holly Springs resident said she was ecstatic Wednesday after a bill allowing non-psychoactive cannabis oil to treat seizure patients got unanimous approval in a state House committee and moved one step closer to a vote on the floor. [continues 486 words]
Medical marijuana bill offers hope but research requires much time The medical marijuana bill approved by a state legislative committee is titled Haleigh's Hope Act, named for Haleigh Cox, a young girl with a condition that causes severe seizures. "It's hope. That's all it is. Hope. That's what we're fighting for," said Corey Lowe, whose daughter Victoria, 12, suffers from mitochondrial disease that could wrack her body with up to 100 seizures a day if not controlled. [continues 444 words]
ATLANTA - Tanya Smith, a Georgia police officer who oversees criminal investigations, is no stranger to battling the perils of drug abuse. Yet Smith's current fight is personal, in memory of her 20-year-old daughter, Taylor, who died last year while using drugs after no one called 911 for help. Smith is among a group of parents lobbying on behalf of a bill that would grant amnesty from certain drug charges for those who seek help in the event of a drug overdose. Seventeen states have passed similar so-called "Good Samaritan laws," and proposals are pending this year in others including Georgia and West Virginia. [continues 596 words]
After purchasing an Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper on Feb. 21, I read the opinion piece by sportswriter Jeff Schultz, "UGA's policy gets it right." Schultz was referring to the UGA athletic drug policy following the recent dismissal of a key defensive football player. His factual observations, negative feedback from football fans and comparisons with other university drug policies hit the nail on the head when distinguishing between winning at any cost versus the lives of young athletes. Within this sports column, UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity acknowledged that other SEC athletic directors had preliminary discussions about a conference-wide policy last year. McGarity further stated, "the issue got no traction with presidents." [continues 434 words]
Local Legislators See Their Sponsored Bills Make It Over the Crossover Day Hump As Well. (AP) - Patients diagnosed with certain illnesses could take a form of medical marijuana under a plan that Georgia's state legislators backed Monday, ahead of an important deadline that sorts out which bills go forward and which will likely fail for the year. Legislative rules force lawmakers to get their bills approved by at least one chamber of the General Assembly by what's commonly called "Crossover Day." The rule can be bent, but it's difficult. [continues 677 words]
A bill before the state Legislature that would legalize one form of medical marijuana for one group of patients passed an important hurdle on Wednesday. But not without undergoing some changes. The House Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill by Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, that would allow a type of cannabis oil to be prescribed for severe seizure disorders. Parents of children with those disorders as well as physicians report dramatic improvements when the children have been treated with cannabis oil. [continues 427 words]
The Bill Would Allow for Further Research into Treating Seizure Disorders. Personal stories of frustration and lengthy deliberation led a state House committee to unanimously approve a bill that would permit medical marijuana to be grown and used in Georgia for treatment of severe seizure disorders. Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, sits on the Health and Human Services Committee, which reviewed the legislation. She said House Bill 885 provides a way to assist those who suffer from these complications - under tightly controlled restrictions. [continues 434 words]
Gainesville will implement a zero-tolerance drug-testing policy beginning Saturday for public safety workers, with termination of employment the penalty for a single failed test. But substance abuse specialists have concerns about how effective the policy will be in curbing drug addiction and whether firing workers will only lead to further abuse. The city currently administers random drug tests for transit workers and other jobs that require a commercial driver's license. The new policy would be extended to include testing of police officers, firefighters, plant and equipment operators, lifeguards and other employees who operate city vehicles. [continues 1012 words]
GEORGIA LAWMAKERS haven't done much of anything this legislative session, which is not a bad thing. Here's one humane measure, however, that deserves passage - a law that would allow limited use of medical marijuana to treat young Georgians suffering from horrific bouts of seizures. First off, this isn't about legalizing pot. The bill that's pending in the Georgia House won't make weed more available so stoners can fire up a joint and achieve a Rocky Mountain-type high, which is the case in Colorado. [continues 447 words]
ATLANTA - A bill to allow a type of medical marijuana in Georgia under certain circumstances passed a key committee vote Wednesday, keeping it alive as a major legislative deadline looms. Sponsored by Republican Rep. Allen Peake of Macon, House Bill 885 would revive a long-dormant research program allowing academic institutions to distribute marijuana to patients suffering from specific medical conditions. The House Health and Human Services Committee passed the bill by a voice vote during Wednesday's meeting, prompting hugs and tears from families in the audience whose children suffer from medical conditions that can cause multiple daily seizures. The families believe, based on anecdotal evidence seen elsewhere, that a form of cannabis oil could reduce the seizures and improve their children's quality of life and have been lobbying lawmakers to support the effort. [continues 524 words]
ATLANTA -- A bill that would legalize access to a cannabis-derived medicine in Georgia passed its first vote Wednesday, with a new provision for sourcing the illegal plant: in-state cannabis cultivation. It passed via unanimous voice vote in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday night. "We've tried to address the access problem that we clearly have by providing a cultivation option" at Georgia's five medical research universities, state Rep. Allen Peake, sponsor of House Bill 885, said of his hours-old edits. [continues 394 words]
ATLANTA (AP) - A bill to allow a type of medical marijuana in Georgia under certain circumstances passed a key committee vote Wednesday, keeping it alive as a major legislative deadline looms. Sponsored by Republican Rep. Allen Peake, of Macon, House Bill 885 would revive a long-dormant research program allowing academic institutions to distribute marijuana to patients suffering from specific medical conditions. The House Health and Human Services Committee passed the bill by a voice vote during Wednesday's meeting, prompting hugs and tears from families in the audience whose children suffer from medical conditions that can cause multiple daily seizures. The families believe, based on anecdotal evidence seen elsewhere, that a form of cannabis oil could reduce the seizures and improve their children's quality of life and have been lobbying lawmakers to support the effort. [continues 401 words]
It's all we hear: Let's legalize marijuana. What harm can it do? Marijuana legalization proponents are tugging on our heartstrings by highlighting how critical medical marijuana is for certain individuals. This seems like a new argument, but it's not. Since the 1970s, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has been supporting medical marijuana laws as the best strategy to achieve overall legalization of the drug. Their ploy has worked. Public support for legalization has increased. But there is more to the story than this. Don't be fooled by social media posts that discard concerns about the drug. These very vocal proponents of legalization are sharing their opinions, not facts. [continues 401 words]
ATLANTA -- The hourglass is emptying fast for a medical marijuana bill that is not scheduled for a vote before a key deadline. Meanwhile, though, another idea for medicine made with compounds found in marijuana might move faster than Georgia law. House Bill 885 by state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, would legalize doctor-supervised use of a cannabis-derived liquid medicine for severe seizures. It's had one hearing before the House Health and Human Services Committee, but no vote had been scheduled as of late Monday afternoon. [continues 522 words]
Ayers' husband was killed by deputy during 2009 drug sting A widowed Hall County woman has been awarded more than $2 million by a federal jury in a wrongful death suit. Jurors on Thursday deemed $2.3 million in damages and expenses to Abigail Marilyn Ayers, wife of Jonathan Ayers, a Northeast Georgia pastor who was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy in September 2009. The trial began last week at the Federal Court in Gainesville. In causing Ayers' death, the defendant, Billy Shane Harrison, "intentionally committed acts that violated Jonathan Ayers' constitutional right not to be subjected to excessive or unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer," the jury determined by its verdict, according to court records. [continues 243 words]
ACWORTH - One year after she buried her 23-year-old daughter, Teresa Turner is ready to share her family's story. Blonde, outgoing and an accomplished athlete and student, Elizabeth Turner died from a heroin overdose Feb. 11, 2013, after years of struggling with a drug addiction. Three weeks ago, her family started a website to spread the word about Elizabeth's death and resources for families dealing with drug addictions. As of Tuesday, more than 1 million people had visited the site and added their personal addiction stories. [continues 1200 words]
A federal jury awarded more than $2.3 million Thursday afternoon to the family of a Toccoa pastor shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy. Jonathan Ayers, 28, was shot Sept. 1, 2009, in the parking lot of a Toccoa convenience store after inadvertently stepping into an undercover drug investigation. Ayers was the minister at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia at the time of his death. In December 2009, a grand jury decided the shooting was justified. Then in March 2010, Ayers' widow, Abigail Ayers, filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging excessive use of deadly force, assault, battery and false arrest against Deputy Billy Shane Harrison. [continues 112 words]
On weekday mornings, when most Columbus residents are just starting their day, hundreds of Muscogee County Prison inmates are already on the job. In shifts starting as early as 6:30 a.m., they are dispersed throughout the city to collect trash, clean city buildings, dig ditches, maintain roadways and work at locations such as golf courses, the animal shelter and the recycling center. The program, now the largest county prison work camp in Georgia, has existed for more than 135 years, according to the Muscogee County Prison website. It saves the city between $17 million and $20 million annually, officials said. Local entities also benefit from funds the program receives from the state. [continues 2509 words]
State lawmakers are currently debating an update to the state's long-dormant "medical marijuana" law to make cannabis oil available to children suffering from epilepsy and other conditions. But Paul Cornwell, a longtime marijuana activist and founder of the Great Atlanta Pot Festival, argues that what's happening under the Gold Dome doesn't involve "medical marijuana" at all - and could set back the actual movement to make the plant widely available. Cornwell is the national coordinator of the Coalition for the Abolition of Marijuana Prohibition, or CAMP. [continues 1114 words]
Reference to "Hearings begin on marijuana." I can only speak for myself like any parent or person having very ill family members. I would try anything to help before taking unauthorized medication. Therefore, if we legalize medical marijuana in one state it should be legalized in all, tested and approved by FDA, prescribed doses by doctors and processed through pharmacies. However, strict laws should be passed to protect against suing doctors and pharmacies if misused by recipients and patients become addicted and/or overdose. Further, maybe some stipulations as to the amounts kept on hand by pharmacies needs guarded procedures as to potential break-ins and/or thefts. - -- Faye W. Tanner Macon [end]
There are many Americans against the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. Heroin had a big spotlight in the news recently after the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. I understand why people want drugs illegal. People say its about "what's best for society." Sounds noble, but there's a big fact that's apparently not realized: Making drugs illegal does little to control the supply or the consumption. The war on drugs is pointless, and it costs us a ton of money. [continues 284 words]
Its Marijuana Laws Were Only "Getting Tougher." In Louisiana (my home state), I wasn't surprised that the editor of LaPolitics, Joe Maginnis, observed that Louisiana "is not a culture of where marijuana is accepted." True dat. Harsher penalties were being introduced in 2010 there, too. Except that today, the reverse is true. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court approved the language for a constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana three days before citizens gathered enough signatures to place it on the November ballot. And NORML, a group working to reform marijuana laws, reports an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) poll found that 53 percent of Louisianans favor legalizing recreational marijuana. Support for legalizing marijuana "is blooming in the South," it said. [continues 549 words]
First, Georgia is not legalizing medical marijuana, just one small part of it for use in a very limited study that is now not operating. This study hasn't been staffed or used in over 20 years. If they allow cannabidiol to be included in this study, it would mean almost nothing. We all know this would take a very long time, more than likely years. Then the restrictions to get into the study would be very strict and difficult. That would mean a very small number of people who need the help could get it. But the biggest problem is that only one grower in Colorado extracts the cannabidiol oil and cannot ship or sell outside the state of Colorado. That means that all of this hubbub is just some politician making a name for himself. - -- Shane Walker Warner Robins [end]
Until about five weeks ago, state Rep. Allen Peake was like most politicians: He didn't want to go near any legislation that used the words "legalization" and "marijuana" in the same sentence. Then he met Haleigh Cox, a 4-year-old Forsyth girl who suffers dozens of seizures a day and who could be helped by a compound extracted from cannabis to control those seizures. "Meeting Haleigh and the Cox family was the turning point for me," Peake said. "Before that, I wouldn't have touched this issue with a 10-foot pole." [continues 1443 words]
The Obama administration continues its efforts to legitimize marijuana with new rules allowing banking institutions to finance and do business with legal marijuana sellers - even as medical experts urge scientific studies of the effectiveness and safety of marijuana for medical uses. The latest pot-favoring move follows the decision by the Obama administration in August to not prosecute legal dealers who met eight requirements, including not selling to minors - even though marijuana was and still is illegal under federal law. Under the Friday rules issued by Obama's Treasury Department, "the administration went a step further by laying out a path for banks to bring marijuana commerce out of the shadows and into the mainstream financial system ... a move that could further legitimize the burgeoning industry," the Washington Post said. [continues 386 words]
By the time my 5-year-old daughter leaves for college, it's quite likely that marijuana use will be broadly decriminalized. Alaska has become the most recent state to move toward legalization, placing an initiative on the ballot for an August vote. If it passes, Alaska would join Washington and Colorado, which have already made recreational use legal for adults. The trend will probably continue, since 52 percent of Americans support legalization, according to the Pew Research Center. That's good news - and not because I want my daughter to indulge. [continues 622 words]
ATLANTA -- In front of a packed room at the Georgia Capitol, Monroe County mother Janea Cox pleaded for her daughter's life at the first hearing on a new medical marijuana proposal. "I'm going to lose my child if this drug is not approved," said Cox, whose daughter Haleigh is the inspiration and namesake for House Bill 885, by state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon. "We're going to break up my family," a tearful Cox said while her child was a few miles away at Children's Hospital of Atlanta at Egleston, where she has been for more than 50 days since a severe attack that caused her to stop breathing for several minutes. [continues 639 words]
ATLANTA - The sponsor of a medical marijuana bill said Monday after a three-hour legislative hearing that the proposal must get significant revisions before it can move forward in the Georgia General Assembly. State Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, said he was unsure of the specific changes needed to House Bill 885 that would give Georgia children, who have no other treatment options, the opportunity to receive therapeutic cannabidiol to treat their seizures. Peake's efforts, though, drew support from the vast majority of people who packed the hearing room, including parents who tearfully testified their children suffer multiple seizures a day. [continues 369 words]
I remember watching a made-for-television movie in 1973 that changed my life. Not that I had much of it to change at the age of 11. Still, it grabbed me by the throat in the way that only a poorly filmed, terminally earnest public-service announcement ever could. "Go Ask Alice" was based on the book that every parent wanted every adolescent to read, and is still a necessary part of growing up. Some people think it's too simplistic, something along the lines of a Nancy Reagan "just say no to the bad drugs" riff. [continues 536 words]
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. [continues 645 words]
Bill Would OK Oil That Blocks Kids' Seizures. 'It's Not Getting Him High, It's Just Getting Him Well,' Dad Testifies. Two years ago, Paige Figi's daughter Charlotte suffered hundreds of seizures a day. Prescription drugs did nothing but provide severe side effects. Now, Charlotte is 99.8 percent seizure-free, Figi said, thanks to one simple thing: medical marijuana. Figi, a Colorado mother and activist, told Georgia legislators Monday that Rep. Allen Peake's plan to legalize a single compound derived from marijuana will save the lives of patients suffering from certain seizure disorders. [continues 537 words]
Marijuana has long been known for its anti-nausea, appetite-stimulating effects, which in part has led 20 states to allow its medical use. In some chronic users, however, it can have an opposite effect and cause constant vomiting and abdominal pain, and the number of people affected appears to be growing in Augusta, says an emergency medicine physician at Georgia Regents University. States that have decriminalized it also have a much higher rate of accidental ingestion by children, who then get sick, a recent study found. [continues 858 words]
Legislation that would allow limited use of medicine derived from marijuana will get its first public hearing Monday. The House Health and Human Services Committee will hear testimony on House Bill 885. Sponsored by Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the bill would create a complex system that would ultimately allow access to cannabis oil to patients who suffer from certain types of seizures. The oil has shown to be effective in easing certain seizure disorders. The bill has proven both controversial and emotional. Many of the patients who could benefit are young children. Peake, who calls himself an unlikely sponsor of the bill, became convinced there is an urgent need for the bill after meeting one young seizure sufferer in Macon. The hearing begins at 3 p.m. in Room 606 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, across the street from the Capitol. [end]
Regarding your thoughtful Feb. 2 editorial, while there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and it helps them feel better, then it's working. In the end, medical marijuana is a quality of life decision best left to patients and their doctors. Drug warriors waging war on non-corporate drugs contend that organic marijuana is not an effective health intervention. Their prescribed intervention for medical marijuana patients is handcuffs, jail cells and criminal records. This heavy-handed approach suggests that drug warriors should not be dictating health care decisions. It's long past time to let doctors decide what is right for their patients; sick patients should not be jailed for daring to seek relief from marijuana. Robert Sharpe Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight, Roll up a joint ... or don't. Just follow your arrow wherever it points. - - Kacey Musgraves A Republican Macon lawmaker is attempting what many in these parts say is the unthinkable: Rep. Allen Peake has prepared a bill that would allow for the legalization of medical marijuana in Georgia. Opponents have already started lining up their "damn hippies" defense, and proponents of legalization of pot in general have started waving their freak flags and saying the bill doesn't go far enough. [continues 656 words]
The idea of legalizing marijuana oil and not allowing the weed to go to a multiple of desperately needy Georgians with cancer and countless other maladies causing extreme pain and suffering are wasting the legislative process. Yes, the oil is favorable to morphine and other drugs but weed by prescription is critical, too. Way back when my friend Doug had cancer, I watched him suffer and weed would have helped. Just today it was announced low level pushers are to be released from prison. If you study the damage done by alcoholic beverages versus weed, legalizing it would create jobs, reduce prison head count, produce hundreds of billions in tax revenue and make life easier for millions. - -- Joe Hubbard Macon [end]
ATLANTA -- If medical marijuana is going to win legalization in Georgia, there are still hurdles to clear, state Rep. Allen Peake said Monday, fresh from a trip to Colorado. Among them: There's a waiting list for a key extract, and for now importing cannabis compounds to Georgia is not possible. Peake, R-Macon, made the observations after visiting Georgia families who have taken severely ill children to Colorado for medical marijuana, as well as the facility where an anti-seizure medicine called Charlotte's Web is made. [continues 433 words]
Inside Georgia
