Sheriff James Brumfield, whose job is to enforce the law in Pike County, wants supervisors to opt out of Mississippi’s medical marijuana program.
I understand his thinking completely. But based on the results of the 2020 referendum, I disagree with him.
If there was ever a time to admit that “the people have spoken,” it was when the results of that vote came in.
It was surprising enough that Mississippi voters would support any legalization of the cultivation, sale and use of marijuana — even if only for people with specific illnesses.
It was beyond shocking that the voters across the state would support medical marijuana by a 3-to-1 margin. The original constitutional amendment got far more support than the alternative proposal put onto the ballot by the state Legislature.
In a column the weekend before Election Day, I wrote that I was undecided on how to vote on medical marijuana. I wound up voting against it because of concerns that it wouldn’t be taxed.
That very clearly was a minority opinion. Apparently a lot of people had experienced a family member with a painful illness who might have been helped by a marijuana-based product.
Just as likely, some voters may have figured that they could skirt their way around the medical restrictions to obtain some marijuana for recreational use.
In any case, the measure passed by a huge margin. That election definitely had some surprising results: Voters also approved a new state flag that day by the same 3-to-1 margin as the marijuana referendum.
In Pike County, medical marijuana won approval in all 25 precincts. None of the precinct results were particularly close.
That’s what tips me over to “the people have spoken.” About 15,400 Pike County residents participated in the referendum. And when 11,000 of them support something, that sends a clear message.
Supervisors must decide by May 1 whether to opt out of medical marijuana procedures that the state is setting up. Pike County’s four towns also must decide by then whether they want to be involved.
The sheriff has some legitimate concerns. Basically, the state is dipping its toes into making a formerly prohibited drug legal, and he questions the wisdom of doing this.
He told supervisors at their March 7 meeting that the top 10 states for youth marijuana use all have legalized medical marijuana, while none of the states in the bottom 10 have done so.
He believes a lot of the marijuana intended for medical use will instead be sold to recreational users, and he predicted that a lot of people are going to get rich off marijuana’s legal entry into the state.
Brumfield probably is right on all counts. I am especially not a fan of the marijuana-as-economic-development argument. Get serious.
If that’s the case, let’s just legalize crystal meth and we’ll all be millionaires. Or we could legalize heroin — oops, wait, we already did that with opioids.
Aside from acknowledging the results of the 2020 vote, I think everyone understands that marijuana is already here in large quantities. I’ve never tried it — promise! — but I’ll bet anybody reading this could get their hands on some weed pretty easily.
I’ve written about this in the past. America has spent billions of dollars, maybe even trillions, in its war on drugs over the past 50 years. But drugs are more plentiful and accessible than ever.
Some of the most addictive drugs — alcohol and opioids, to name two — are legal. I fail to see how allowing ill people to use marijuana products will make things worse.
For full disclosure, I have a mild form of epilepsy. Research has showed that marijuana products have eased the seizures of patients with more severe forms of the condition. That is a positive step, and it should not be ignored.
Let’s say Pike County supervisors opt out of medical marijuana. What’s to stop residents from going to doctors in Brookhaven, Tylertown or Liberty to get permission to buy the products?
I’m still amazed that Mississippi is getting into the medical marijuana business. I do understand the reservations about it, but these concerns shouldn’t kill the program. Pike County ought to allow it. The voters said so.
