The answer to the above question for most North Carolinians would likely be a resounding yes, but for how long? Although marijuana is currently a “schedule 1 controlled substance, there are efforts underway to change that by enacting “Medical Marijuana” laws in many states in the United States. There are thirteen states and the District of Columbia that have now enacted new “Medical Marijuana” laws. In North Carolina, House Bill 1380 was introduced in the General Assembly April 13, 2009 sponsored by Representatives Jones, Harrison, Mackey (Primary Sponsors), K. Alexander and Fisher.
Not to long ago, it would not have been likely that most prevention professionals would have thought that someone would introduce such a bill because of the significant impact it can have on the citizens of North Carolina. This bill is a “game changer” for me! It has the potential to bring additional stress to an already overstressed system of public and private health care. Although the bill has been referred to the Health Committee and is still there at the writing of this article, what will be the final outcome of this effort to enact Medical Marijuana laws in this great state?
One Fortune Magazine article published in August 2009, caught my eyes last year when I was in an airport waiting for my flight from the NPN conference. That article “Is Pot Already Legal? Had a picture of Mary Louise Parker, star of the Showtime hit, Weeds with a t-shirt with a marijuana plant on it. The article was quite in-depth and informative about the current national movement towards legalization of marijuana and the issues associated with it.
I was made aware of the many ways that marijuana is processed and the “BudTenders” who dispense it at “Health Centers”. Sour Diesel, Lavender, Master Kush, Grape Skunk, Trainwreck, Goo, Super Goo and the list goes on of the available marijuana at over 700 dispensaries through California.
What stood out in my mind however was not the different names of their product, but how did this become a reality and a national movement? Sure we have been in a “war on drugs” and some say drug users, but who has been the advocates for legalizing marijuana? Most of you probably know about the George Soros Foundation a major funding source of social issues including the legalization of marijuana.
Yet there are other players that are touted as having the possible clout to make legalization a reality. Those players are Women according an article in Truthout a web based magazine by Daniela Perdomo, December 5, 2009. Some are referred to as “marijuana moms”. In fact Join Together had an article May 13, 2010 on “Mobilizing Moms for Marijuana Reform”. The article states “citing the historical success of mothers in changing drunk-driving laws, and enacting and later repealing Prohibition, activist are hoping to gather a coalition of moms on a platform that marijuana is safer than alcohol, and that teens should not face jail time for experimenting with the drug”.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) formed a mother’s alliance in January and other sites advocating legalization have begun to grow. The Join Together article notes that the battle is still an uphill battle.
An article in Marie Claire, September 2009, a woman’s magazine, Stiletto Stoners has a focus on working middle-class women who have been “toking” on a regular basis for years. The article cites a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) study that an estimated 8 million American women smoked marijuana in the past year and the writer believes that number to be low. It continues with a description of the women in households with more than $75, 000 a year and are professionals including lawyers, editors, insurance agents, TV producers among others.
Will these women have influence to keep the legalization movement going and will there be such an advocate group in North Carolina? Time will provide the answers and I wouldn’t dare to hazard a guess at this point in time.
Although I have focused on the possibility of change that women could possibly bring to the legalization question, I haven’t forgotten and must not fail to address the other issues that advocates are pushing such as cited in a New York Times article March 26, 2010, Legal-Marijuana Advocates Focus on a New Green written by Jesse McKinley.
The article refers to a referendum that will be on the November 2010 ballot that would “legalize, tax and regulate marijuana”. The advocates for this referendum hope that the state of California will raise over 1 billion in taxes and save on law enforcement costs. I wonder how much of this savings and additional revenue will be needed to address the unintended consequences that legalization brings to a community.
I also received an “action alert” from an organization I was not familiar with “Save Our Society from Drugs” urging recipients of the alert to send messages to the U.S. Treasury Department expressing a position against allowing the Treasury to issue guidelines to financial institutions allowing them to work with marijuana dispensaries. Advocates for these guidelines say that they are needed to address the criminal element that has become involved due to a lack of legitimate financial resources. This website is worth exploring because of the information it has gathered on the medical marijuana issue.
Rev. Scott Imler, co-founder of California’s Prop 215 Medical Marijuana Law is quoted in Alternative Magazine fall, 2006, issue 39, “We created Proposition 215 so that patients would not have to deal with black market profiteers. But today it is all about the money. Most of the dispensaries operating in California are little more than dope dealers with store fronts”.
Of course this requires monitoring as the issue continues to be addressed in North Carolina.
The articles “Medical Marijuana Reality Check” and “What Every American Should Know About Medical Marijuana found on the website of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, February 2007 have compelling information that all citizens opposed to the legalization of marijuana should carefully examine and prepare to act as surely as the time will come when action to stop this movement in North Carolina will be needed. The purpose of this article is largely to raise awareness and interest in an issue that needs to be studied as far as crime, health, mental health as they relate to all elements of society in North Carolina. It is by no means as comprehensive as it could have been, but written to spur you to research this issue for yourselves and bring to this blog your most treasured and valued viewpoints.
Those of use working as professionals need to become knowledgeable enough to be “specialists” in this area as well as all the other things we do. The better prepared we are, the odds increase that we can be effective in helping to shape our communities in ways that give generations the best chance for drug free lifestyles.
Michael Dublin, MA, CSAPC, ICPS
Faith Works Together Coordinator/Consultant
June 2, 2010