State GOP urges sanity on med pot
It’s one of the enduring and probably eternal ironies of politics: Politicians determined to come off as “tough on” something flee as far and as fast as they can from taking a stand on it that requires even a modicum of political courage.
Whether the issue is crime, the economy, immigration, welfare or, in this instance, drug policy, the flagrant paradox of being “tough” by playing it safe seems to elude them.
One of the most obvious cases in point, in Georgia and elsewhere, is the “controversial” (read: no-brainer) issue of medical marijuana.
The word “controversial” has to be taken with a few kegs of salt in this context, because the medical value of cannabis in treating a broad range of diseases and symptoms, and relieving different kinds of pain and suffering related to them, is no longer a matter of much real debate.
Georgia is among the states that have adopted feeble half-loaf measures that limit use of therapeutic cannabis to a few conditions and exclude too many others — an especially cynical and callous triumph of politics over compassion.
So it’s encouraging that one of the best things to come out of the Georgia Republican convention in Augusta last week was a resolution supporting “in-state access” to cannabis oil, and broadening the range of medical conditions whose sufferers would qualify for that access.
This no doubt came as welcome news to state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, who has been trying to bring humane sanity to Georgia pot laws for some time now, including a proposal that Georgia should ultimately allow the plant to be grown in-state for medicinal cannabis cultivation.
One of the more perplexing obstacles has been the opposition of Gov. Nathan Deal, who certainly has not shown himself lacking in political courage. Deal’s position was that it should be Congress, not state lawmakers, who decide the issue of whether states can cultivate medical pot — a curious stance, to say the least, for a self-described conservative to take with regard to state vs. federal authority over such matters.
Meanwhile Georgia, like too many other states, is making scofflaws of otherwise law-abiding citizens, much as Prohibition did 80 and 90 years ago. The significant difference this time is that these citizens are breaking the law for the sake of sick and suffering people, many of them children, who aren’t seeking a Get Out of Jail Free card for a recreational bag of weed.
One of those criminals is the 3rd Congressional District GOP chairman.
“I’m a law-abiding citizen who is forced to commit a felony every single day and other families are forced to commit those same felonies just to care for their children,” said Dale Jackson of LaGrange. “Most of us here would, in principle, disagree with legalizing drugs. But this resolution speaks specifically to medicine — medicine that my 8-year-old son needs.”
Peake reportedly said he will reintroduce his legislation in the next session of the General Assembly. It should be supported across the board, and across the aisle.
Enough of getting tough. It’s time to get real.
This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 2:47 PM with the headline "State GOP urges sanity on med pot."