Three years ago I wrote this:
“Failure to distinguish between legalizing medical marijuana and legalizing recreational marijuana is malpractice in my view, both medical and political.” – CityWatch, Feb. 27, 2019
Last year I wrote this:
“The bill is about relieving suffering, not enabling stoners. Patients with certain terrible diseases need and deserve our compassion.” – CityWatch, April 7, 2021
Now it’s time for you, dear reader, to write something: A note to your S.C. House member calling on him or her to step up, do the right thing and pass the Compassionate Care Act.
The state Senate has already done so, and by a comfortable margin of 28-15.
Moreover, that vote was strongly bipartisan, with 17 Republicans and 11 Democrats joining forces to pass this common sense, common decency legislation.
The result was the culmination of a seven year effort by Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort. Combining the skills of compromise with the patience of Job, Davis masterfully guided the legislation to passage in the Senate.
For those unfamiliar with the bill, it would set up the most conservative, restrictive medical marijuana law in the nation.
First, there would be no legalized pot smoking. That’s right, the bill does not allow consumption of marijuana by puffing a joint, but instead limits medical cannabis to lotions, creams, oils etc.
Further, those cannabis products would be available only by a licensed doctor’s prescription, which could only be filled at a licensed pharmacy.
Finally, the conditions for which medical cannabis could be prescribed by a doctor are specified and limited, including cancer, epilepsy, seizures, glaucoma and other horrendous diseases.
And by the way, what has the prescription been for such ailments in the past? Opioids. Enough said.
Medical cannabis is clearly a better alternative. And it is clearly not the same thing as recreational cannabis.
There is simply an enormous difference between legalizing recreational marijuana (opposing that is fine with me) and legalizing medical marijuana (opposing that is not fine with me).
Nor should it be fine with anyone who cares about their fellow man/woman/child who is suffering terribly from various painful and debilitating diseases that medical marijuana can help alleviate.
Yes, children are very much a part of this, with recurring seizures and other afflictions affecting many, and medical cannabis offering major relief. With all due respect to those who sincerely oppose medical marijuana, I urge you to rethink your position in that light.
Moreover, South Carolina is now one of only 12 states not to have enacted a medical marijuana law. The most recent to do so was Mississippi, which joined others in our region including Florida, Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and West Virginia. We are increasingly an outlier on this issue.
For the bill to pass, the people must speak. Indeed, they have already spoken loudly in public opinion polls that have repeatedly shown support for medical marijuana at over 70% in South Carolina.
But due to the way the Legislature works, or doesn’t work, the bill may not even get a vote in the House unless citizens make their representatives hear them.
So please, write or call your House member. Even if you’ve never done that before. Especially if you’ve never done that before.
Kevin Fisher is president of Fisher Communications, a Columbia advertising and public relations firm. He is active in local issues involving the arts, conservation, business and politics.
