Majority of Alabama District Attorney's Intervene In Attempt to Stop Medical Marijuana Law From Passing. Say Law may convince people that MaryJ isn't a dangerous, destructive gateway drug. Say pharmaceutical painkillers are good enough.

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

https://www.al.com/news/2021/04/which-district-attorneys-in-alabama-are-pushing-to-block-medical-marijuana.html

 

Quote

“Marijuana is a wolf in sheep’s clothing… too many in the general public have been convinced that it is harmless,” the letter reads. “That is, perhaps, the biggest lie that is being perpetrated on the Alabama public today. Please don’t further the lie by voting for any form of legalization beyond the pharmaceutical remedies already available under state law.”

The bill, which would not allow any form of raw marijuana plant, or anything that could be smoked or vaped, is expected to be voted on in the Alabama House soon. The bill cleared the Senate earlier this month.

Yeah, F*** anyone in chronic pain who doesn't want to destroy their bodies and become dependent and addicted to powerful  pharmaceutical pain killers. Great plan and message. Very on brand for Alabama. 

 

Who thinks this bill will actually pass? I'm hopeful but will be surprised if it does. 

*Just as a note I've never had any kind of marijuana and have no plans to have it, but I fully support people's rights to choose to take it, especially since it's proven to be safer and less harmful than legal drugs like tobacco and alcohol. 

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

Translation: "We oppose the bill because legalization means less work for us."

[TitanTiger 20,481]

It's classic tactic at play here:  Exaggerate the other side's position, then argue against the exaggeration.

For one, hardly anyone is saying that marijuana is "harmless."  Like many things it can be abused, overuse can cause health problems, it can impair judgment and reflexes when driving and such.  What people are saying is that its current treatment under law is way out of proportion to its actually dangers or harmful effects.  If we can regulate the sale and distribution of alcohol in ways that permit it to be legal, the same can be said of marijuana based on the evidence.

But this feckless letter takes it a notch further.  The proposed medical marijuana bill they're arguing against doesn't even make MJ legal.  We aren't going to have legal weed shops popping up all over ala Colorado.  The bill that passed the Senate is limited to a handful of medical conditions and has other restrictions on it:

The legislation would set up a system to regulate medical marijuana from the growing of the plants to the sales of medical cannabis products at dispensaries. Doctors could recommend medical marijuana for about 15 symptoms and conditions, including chronic pain; seizures; depression; weight loss and nausea from cancer and HIV; Crohn’s disease; Parkinson’s; sickle cell anemia; PTSD; muscle spasticity from certain diseases; and other conditions.

Patients would receive a medical cannabis card and be placed in a registry.

The bill would not allow the use of raw plant material or products that could be smoked.

So they're conflating making marijuana legal with a very narrowly tailored bill allowing MJ to be used in limited circumstances for medical reasons and under tight control and regulation to scare people.

 

[DKW 86 7,419]

I got news for some of the DAs, Weed might as well be legal. 

The laws against it arent doing crap at all to stop its use, nor introduction to more users every day.

 

[GoAU 1,600]

Can’t imagine it’ll be a popular stance, or a surprise to anyone, but I’m not a fan.  “Medical” marijuana is just an interim step to legalization.   Pain clinics will see to that.   
 

Not necessarily looking to try and change anyone’s mind here, and there is zero chance I’ll change mine, but I just don’t like the charade of pretending we’re only working on glaucoma or chemo patients....

[TitanTiger 20,481]

1 hour ago, GoAU said:

Can’t imagine it’ll be a popular stance, or a surprise to anyone, but I’m not a fan.  “Medical” marijuana is just an interim step to legalization.   Pain clinics will see to that.   
 

Not necessarily looking to try and change anyone’s mind here, and there is zero chance I’ll change mine, but I just don’t like the charade of pretending we’re only working on glaucoma or chemo patients....

So because you’re afraid it might one day lead to full legalization, people with legitimate medical conditions right now who can benefit from medical marijuana shouldn’t be able to get it?

[AUDub 11,148]

2 hours ago, GoAU said:

Can’t imagine it’ll be a popular stance, or a surprise to anyone, but I’m not a fan.  “Medical” marijuana is just an interim step to legalization.   Pain clinics will see to that.   
 

Not necessarily looking to try and change anyone’s mind here, and there is zero chance I’ll change mine, but I just don’t like the charade of pretending we’re only working on glaucoma or chemo patients....

s***, were it legal and I didn't have to maintain a DOT card, my evening beer might very well be replaced with an evening bowl after the kids go to bed.

It's OK to drink your drug, I guess. 

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

The conservative "pro-freedoms" guy doesn't believe in in any form of legal marijuana? Yeah...not surprised at all. 

 

His concerns aren't completely off base though. Recreational marijuana WILL be legal in Alabama eventually. It wont be this year or the next..may not even be 10 years from now...and may not be till all 49 other states maker it legal first, but it will happen in Alabama.

17 states already have it legalized in some form and polling #'s suggest that almost a majority of the country supports legalization in some form, including almost half of Republicans with younger republicans supporting legalization and 65+ Republicans being one of the very few demographics really against it. (makes sense considering they were around for all the decades of misinformed,government propaganda that tried to make Marijuana out to be public enemy #1, when in fact it ends up being almost one of the safest drugs one can partake in.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/marijuana-legalization-is-super-popular-why-hasnt-it-happened-nationally/

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by CoffeeTiger

[DKW 86 7,419]

5 hours ago, AUDub said:

s***, were it legal and I didn't have to maintain a DOT card, my evening beer might very well be replaced with an evening bowl after the kids go to bed.

It's OK to drink your drug, I guess. 

This 1000x. I have dealt with close to a dozen people in my life that were in fact alcoholics, including family members. An evening bowl is the goal! However I would prefer a less lung damaging way to ingest myself. Some Alice B. Tokeless Recipes maybe....

VS

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by DKW 86

[GoAU 1,600]

Can’t say I’m surprised at all by the responses.   I will clarify my statements again - I said “I’m not a fan” and “this is just a step to full scale legalization”.  Both statements are completely true,  
 

There are plenty of things that may be legal that I’m not a fan of.   This doesn’t mean I care whether or not it’s legal, it’s just my opinion.   I personally could care less if it is legalized - I just wish people would have the courage to state their true intent rather than hiding behind the “medical” BS side story.   My OPINIONS about marijuana are just that, opinions.  The only real difference I see at this point between it and alcohol are that we have an effective / objective way to test whether or not someone is under the influence of alcohol.  Driving, operation of heavy equipment, and people working under the influence is my main concern.  If we can find a way to  objectively test for that, my concerns will be even less.  The  known effects it has both physically and psychologically are individual choices as far as I’m concerned, and I’d just like to be sure we have a way to keep the effects tied to the individual.
 

Just to put it in perspective, for those of you that support restrictions on firearms out of “public safety” concerns - significantly more people died as a result of marijuana related traffic deaths than with “assault rifles”.   
 

https://www.madd.org/hawaii/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2019/02/ImpactUpdate_ColoradoLeagaliztionMarijuana_10.18.pdf
 Since recreational marijuana was legalized, marijuana related traffic deaths increased 151 percent while all Colorado traffic deaths increased 35 percent
 Since recreational marijuana was legalized, traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana more than doubled from 55 in 2013 to 138 people killed in 2017.
o This equates to one person killed every 2 1⁄2 days compared to one person killed every 6 1⁄2 days.
 The percentage of all Colorado traffic deaths that were marijuana related increased from 11.43 percent in 2013 to 21.3 percent in 2017.

 The executive summary here as to my stance / opinion:

- legalize it if that’s what you want to do, but make it similar to alcohol.  If you drive under the influence you get the book thrown at you for being an idiot and risking other people’s lives with your stupidity 
- have a way to test for it (similar to alcohol) to keep it out of the workplace, because that can create real safety concerns for lots of different reasons

- don’t be a hypocrite when it comes to 2A rights, legalization is much more dangerous than guns.  I am all about personal freedom, but enforce the laws that are there for when one persons “recreation” endangers someone else.  This is similar to laws that should be enforced when guns are misused. 

[TitanTiger 20,481]

41 minutes ago, GoAU said:

I just wish people would have the courage to state their true intent rather than hiding behind the “medical” BS side story.  

I don’t have a lot of issue with the rest of what you said, but this is an unfair mischaracterization. Sure some people who are wanting full legalization are glomming on to this to hopefully further their true aims, but the people who got this bill going and have lobbied the Legislature for years have real medical needs. They have children who experience crippling seizures. They suffer the awful side effects of chemotherapy. They aren’t asking for this to get high as a form of escapism and it’s not right to make such blanket statements about their true intentions. 

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

4 hours ago, GoAU said:

- don’t be a hypocrite when it comes to 2A rights, legalization is much more dangerous than guns.  I am all about personal freedom, but enforce the laws that are there for when one persons “recreation” endangers someone else.  This is similar to laws that should be enforced when guns are misused. 

Like, titan, I don't have much to say to the rest of your post and respect your views on that, but I DO take an issue with this. 

Gun control doesn't involve only these so called 'assault rifles' (and I believe politicians and the media focus too heavily on AR's when a vast majority of gun deaths are by hand guns).  marijuana is absolutely not more dangerous than Guns in America by any statistic or measurement.

In the example you gave, it says there were 138 traffic deaths in Colorado in 2017 where a person tested positive for marijuana. How many people died via gun's in Colorado in 2017?  779 (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm). Much higher # there.

(Also take note that the source you provided says that the 138 number cited does NOT exclude people who also had other drugs or alcohol in their system, A pie chart later on in the document says that 35% of those tested had ONLY marijuana in their system without any other combination of drugs or alcohol present, so that's really about 47 traffic deaths where only marijuana was in the system. ) 

 ----------------------------------

I do 100% agree that driving while under the influence of any substances should be illegal and carry stiff penalties. Hopefully an accurate way of testing for marijuana influence will be developed soon. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by CoffeeTiger

[I_M4_AU 7,818]

12 hours ago, AUDub said:

s***, were it legal and I didn't have to maintain a DOT card, my evening beer might very well be replaced with an evening bowl after the kids go to bed.

It's OK to drink your drug, I guess. 

If you drink your drug the DOT doesn’t have a problem with it as it can be tested for traces within a certain time frame and random testing is accurate.  Now, if the DOT can develop a test that has the same accuracy as alcohol, you’re set.  It probably isn’t a high (excuse the pun) priority.

[GoAU 1,600]

3 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Like, titan, I don't have much to say to the rest of your post and respect your views on that, but I DO take an issue with this. 

Gun control doesn't involve only these so called 'assault rifles' (and I believe politicians and the media focus too heavily on AR's when a vast majority of gun deaths are by hand guns).  marijuana is absolutely not more dangerous than Guns in America by any statistic or measurement.

In the example you gave, it says there were 138 traffic deaths in Colorado in 2017 where a person tested positive for marijuana. How many people died via gun's in Colorado in 2017?  779 (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm). Much higher # there.

(Also take note that the source you provided says that the 138 number cited does NOT exclude people who also had other drugs or alcohol in their system, A pie chart later on in the document says that 35% of those tested had ONLY marijuana in their system without any other combination of drugs or alcohol present, so that's really about 47 traffic deaths where only marijuana was in the system. ) 

 ----------------------------------

I do 100% agree that driving while under the influence of any substances should be illegal and carry stiff penalties. Hopefully an accurate way of testing for marijuana influence will be developed soon. 

I was specific in my analogy of “assault weapons” to marijuana, as that is what most of the politicians are going after.   If you want to expand the analogy to all guns, it would be fair to also include alcohol deaths to marijuana.  

I will also point out that most firearm deaths are due to suicides, but are typically referred to as if they are homicides.    They shouldn’t be included in the comparison.  
 

Fully agree with you about finding a way to test for THC influence- that would be great.

Edited April 30, 2021 by GoAU

[TitanTiger 20,481]

29 minutes ago, GoAU said:

I was specific in my analogy of “assault weapons” to marijuana, as that is what most of the politicians are going after.   If you want to expand the analogy to all guns, it would be fair to also include alcohol deaths to marijuana.  

I will also point out that most firearm deaths are due to suicides, but are typically referred to as if they are homicides.    They shouldn’t be included in the comparison.  

It's still not really an apt comparison because alcohol-related deaths include people who die from drinking so much they die of alcohol poisoning, or they pass out drunk and choke on their own vomit, to alcohol induced cirrhosis, not just drunk driving accidents.  Marijuana doesn't have the same kind of physical effects on people that alcohol.  Almost no one dies from smoking too much for instance.  

If you just compared using alcohol or guns in unlawful ways that lead to death, gun related deaths are higher.  Last year there were stats for it, there were about 11,000 or so drunk-driving deaths but over 14,000 murders with a handgun.

What's more, I don't think MJ even if legal is ever going to enjoy the same level of popularity as alcohol.  Even if we do see some sort of increase in impaired driving accidents due to pot smoking, it's not clear that these would be on top of all the current alcohol related deaths.  In some cases, the users would simply be swapping alcohol for MJ and choosing to drive, so drunk driving might go down but stoned driving would go up with no overall increase when added together.  We just don't know.

 

Quote

Fully agree with you about finding a way to test for THC influence- that would be great.

I don't think anyone would disagree with this.

But again, this is ancillary to the real medical need people with certain conditions have that medical marijuana is very effective in helping.  Those people should not be held hostage over what they *think* might happen down the road with total legalization.  If you want to fight legalization, then fight that fight without hurting these folks.

[AUFAN78 3,894]

I'm in favor of legalizing MJ in all states. Penalties for DUI can follow Colorado law. for example:

https://www.shouselaw.com/co/dui/laws/dui-of-marijuana/#4

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

56 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

I'm in favor of legalizing MJ in all states. Penalties for DUI can follow Colorado law. for example:

https://www.shouselaw.com/co/dui/laws/dui-of-marijuana/#4

Did we just agree 100% on something? I'm gonna screenshot this moment and save it to my desktop. 🤣

[AUFAN78 3,894]

31 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Did we just agree 100% on something? I'm gonna screenshot this moment and save it to my desktop. 🤣

You agreed, but didn't like my post? Come on man.

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/alabama-house-could-pass-medical-marijuana-bill-today.html

Bill didn't come for a vote yesterday because a few a**hole Republicans filibustered it all day and night talking about how medical mary J would be letting the Devil win and citing fake, disproven studies and statistics they read on Facebook about marijuana

 

A few were just like GoAU and refused to support medical marijuana because they were afraid it would increase public support for full legalization in the future and they swore they'd never support that ever, no matter what. Screw whatever the people they represent think and want apparently. 

 

I like how at least one legislator pointed out how hypocritical it was for Alabama to vote for easier access and home delivery of Alcohol, but then hee and haw about medical MJ.

 

A few pointed out how they used to be against it, but then changed their minds after seeing family members go through horrible pain and suffering, which i think is a big problem with Conservatives and Republicans in general is that they don't know how to consider compassion or empathy for other people and other situations unless they or their immediate family actually suffer through something.  

Edited May 5, 2021 by CoffeeTiger

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/medical-marijuana-debate-returns-to-alabama-house.html

 

Quote

The Alabama House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 68-34 after about two and a half hours of debate this morning.

The bill returns to the Senate, which had passed it earlier. If the Senate agrees with changes made by the House, the bill would go to Gov. Kay Ivey, who could sign it into law.

 

I applaud state lawmakers for this finally getting through both chambers. 

It's by no means perfect. I think it is too limiting on the conditions it can be prescribed for and it doesn't require medical insurance to cover any costs for it, so it'll be yet another service that Alabama will make outside the reach of the poor, but it is certainly better than nothing and is a good start. 

[homersapien 11,373]

On 4/30/2021 at 2:28 PM, GoAU said:

I was specific in my analogy of “assault weapons” to marijuana, as that is what most of the politicians are going after.   

When was the last time someone got high and drove a car through a school with the intent of killing as many people as possible?

What a fanciful analogy! 🙄

Edited May 25, 2021 by homersapien

[AU9377 4,930]

On 4/30/2021 at 6:30 AM, GoAU said:

Can’t say I’m surprised at all by the responses.   I will clarify my statements again - I said “I’m not a fan” and “this is just a step to full scale legalization”.  Both statements are completely true,  
 

There are plenty of things that may be legal that I’m not a fan of.   This doesn’t mean I care whether or not it’s legal, it’s just my opinion.   I personally could care less if it is legalized - I just wish people would have the courage to state their true intent rather than hiding behind the “medical” BS side story.   My OPINIONS about marijuana are just that, opinions.  The only real difference I see at this point between it and alcohol are that we have an effective / objective way to test whether or not someone is under the influence of alcohol.  Driving, operation of heavy equipment, and people working under the influence is my main concern.  If we can find a way to  objectively test for that, my concerns will be even less.  The  known effects it has both physically and psychologically are individual choices as far as I’m concerned, and I’d just like to be sure we have a way to keep the effects tied to the individual.
 

Just to put it in perspective, for those of you that support restrictions on firearms out of “public safety” concerns - significantly more people died as a result of marijuana related traffic deaths than with “assault rifles”.   
 

https://www.madd.org/hawaii/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2019/02/ImpactUpdate_ColoradoLeagaliztionMarijuana_10.18.pdf
 Since recreational marijuana was legalized, marijuana related traffic deaths increased 151 percent while all Colorado traffic deaths increased 35 percent
 Since recreational marijuana was legalized, traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana more than doubled from 55 in 2013 to 138 people killed in 2017.
o This equates to one person killed every 2 1⁄2 days compared to one person killed every 6 1⁄2 days.
 The percentage of all Colorado traffic deaths that were marijuana related increased from 11.43 percent in 2013 to 21.3 percent in 2017.

 The executive summary here as to my stance / opinion:

- legalize it if that’s what you want to do, but make it similar to alcohol.  If you drive under the influence you get the book thrown at you for being an idiot and risking other people’s lives with your stupidity 
- have a way to test for it (similar to alcohol) to keep it out of the workplace, because that can create real safety concerns for lots of different reasons

- don’t be a hypocrite when it comes to 2A rights, legalization is much more dangerous than guns.  I am all about personal freedom, but enforce the laws that are there for when one persons “recreation” endangers someone else.  This is similar to laws that should be enforced when guns are misused. 

Field sobriety tests are preformed every day.  People fail them and thereafter are asked to submit to a chemical test to determine the level of THC in their bloodstream.  If they refuse, the driver is charged with the refusal and the result is the same as though they are found guilty of DUI.  Many states simply require an officer's observation coupled with any THC in the bloodstream, while others require an amount that indicates the possibility of actual impairment.

[AuburnNTexas 7,145]

There are a lot of drugs used for medical purposes that can possibly lead to addiction you have to balance the risk against the gain. There are real benefits for some people in using Medical Marijuana. People in Chemo Therapy or Radiation Therapy often lose their appetites Marijuana helps with that. Getting enough nutrients is key in keeping subject strong enough to survive the therapy. There are other proven uses for it.  

As others have said we have ways to see if a person is impaired while driving so that is a strawman for not allowing the use of medical marijuana. Will there be Doctor's who over prescribe it or abuse it yes just like we see with so much medical abuse of Narco type prescriptions. That is a problem that has to be dealt with at the Licensing level within the State board.

Not allowing Medical Marijuana is 1950 thinking in the year 2021.  

[AuburnNTexas 7,145]

On 5/5/2021 at 9:30 AM, CoffeeTiger said:

https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/alabama-house-could-pass-medical-marijuana-bill-today.html

Bill didn't come for a vote yesterday because a few a**hole Republicans filibustered it all day and night talking about how medical mary J would be letting the Devil win and citing fake, disproven studies and statistics they read on Facebook about marijuana

 

A few were just like GoAU and refused to support medical marijuana because they were afraid it would increase public support for full legalization in the future and they swore they'd never support that ever, no matter what. Screw whatever the people they represent think and want apparently. 

 

I like how at least one legislator pointed out how hypocritical it was for Alabama to vote for easier access and home delivery of Alcohol, but then hee and haw about medical MJ.

 

A few pointed out how they used to be against it, but then changed their minds after seeing family members go through horrible pain and suffering, which i think is a big problem with Conservatives and Republicans in general is that they don't know how to consider compassion or empathy for other people and other situations unless they or their immediate family actually suffer through something.  

Up until your last paragraph I agreed with everything you said. Conservatives and Republicans have consistently given more to Charity then Liberals and Democrats who as a generalization not all (probably not even the majority) tend to want the Government to be compassionate for them.  Over the years I have worked with Church Groups going to help rebuild after disasters, working food banks, People helping People ministries the great majority of the people I did this with were Conservatives and Republicans. So cut the crap on branding people who disagree with you on other subject as being ogre like uncaring people.  While I agree not all Conservatives and Republicans are empathetic I could say the same for Liberals and Democrats, branding a group based on the few who are like this is part of the problem in this country today.  Each side focuses on the bad apples on the other side and try to paint that side like those bad apples.  Most people whether Liberal or Conservative or good caring people who may disagree on the best way to help people but their view is not do to lack of compassion.

The subject was about whether Alabama should allow Medical marijuana I am a die hard Conservative Republican who has never had a family member need Medical Marijuana and yet I am for it as are probably the majority and the ones who are not for it is because they have been mislead and don't really understand the issue. 

Edited June 5, 2021 by AuburnNTexas

[Gowebb11 9,321]

I was once an “anti-pot” hardliner. Education on the issue has changed that for me. We have wasted billions of dollars “fighting the war on drugs” with a heavy focus on marijuana. Meanwhile we allowed Purdue Pharma to maim and kill hundreds of thousands with opioids. And countless people suffer and die from alcoholism and cigarettes. It’s past time to legalize not just medical marijuana but recreational marijuana as well. Then again, the legislature of Alabama saw fit to ban yoga and ‘namaste’ so….

Edited June 6, 2021 by Gowebb11