The Spectator The independent student newspaper of Valdosta State University
by Zenobia Harris
While the legalization of medical marijuana would provide some small relief for children and adults who use cannabis oil as a form of treatment for severe medical conditions, it poses serious problems both for the government and the patients.
Because the use of marijuana as a medical treatment hasn’t been thoroughly tested, some of the dangers and side effects are unknown to many medical professionals and rightfully so, some doctors who advise against it. The medical conditions cannabis is being used to alleviate could be made more bearable by other more reliable, FDA-approved treatments.
One Georgia representative, Allen Peake, has been pushing the new legislation for quite some time, but he prefers the new bill to be a lot less restrictive in its guidelines for the use of medical marijuana.
Some suggest that the drug be produced in Georgia to avoid any restrictions that may occur while crossing state lines, but one concern is that “home-grown” medical marijuana along with a loosely regulated bill could lead to quite a bit of recreational use. Similar opinions may be part of the reason why much of the new bill has been edited to only include certain forms of the medicine for certain people.
A happy medium can probably be found when approving this new bill, but when looking at Georgia’s stance on the use of marijuana in the past, it is difficult to say that there will be any leaps and bounds regarding changes to the medical marijuana bill any time soon. However, taking it slowly might just be a smart move.
There is a lot of unregulated stuff going on with medical marijuana. CBD especially has a lot of snake oil quackery to it. There is always people shamming about how it can ‘cure cancer’ but there are no testimonials or proof. The federal government should move to regulate the substance and just as Chinese herbal medicine or acupuncture.
Let’s start doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. None of us would want our kids put in jail over a little marijuana. None of us would want the police to confiscate and sell our parents’ home because they grew a couple of plants to help with the aches and pains of growing older. Let’s start treating other people the way we would want to be treated.
Email your Georgia House Representative:
Go to the link and click on their name to find their email address: http://www.house.ga.gov/Representatives/en-US/HouseMembersList.aspx
Email your Georgia State Senator:
http://www.senate.ga.gov/senators/en-US/SenateMembersList.aspx
These lists have a search engine; just type in your town and it will highlight your Representative and your Senator.
It is painfully obvious that Zenobia Harris has not completed any ounce of research while writing this article. How did this person receive the credentials to write this article? Just doing a simple Google search revealed that “over the last two years, NIBRS data reveals a 41 percent decrease in all drug arrests in the state [of Colorado]. This drop can be attributed to allowing adults to possess, cultivate and privately use marijuana” (Way, 2014). Harris provides no sources and is only using rhetoric to justify her argument. Our nation has seen enough rhetoric in place of hard facts. This writer only continues to fuel the confusion and divide within our country; thus being completely counter-productive to any logical train of thought. This website and writer should be downright ashamed of themselves for allowing just blatant dishonesty.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-way/colorado-and-marijuana-le_b_6397664.html
The medical uses of marijuana have been tested and proven time and time again, in US Studies and International Studies. Despite the fact studies have been illegal for decades. Here are some citations: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/08/23/20-medical-studies-that-prove-cannabis-can-cure-cancer/
And while politicians and the author may believe taking it slow is good policy, they forget the tens of thousands of nonviolent marijuana users (young, black men statistically) wasting away in Georgian jails right now. What Michelle Alexander calls the New Jim Crow is accurate. Ruining people’s lives for smoking a plant is beyond reason. Nevermind all the wasted tax money used to cage peaceful people. Money better spent on Georgia’s low -rated schools.
And all the while, the most powerful drug – alcohol – is completely socially acceptable in this backwoods State. Double standards or Double Think? Get with the program Georgia.