Pubdate: Mon, 10 Feb 2014
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2014 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Christina A. Cassidy, Associated Press
Page: 7

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA GAINS TRACTION IN DEEP SOUTH

ATLANTA (AP) - Medical marijuana has been a non-starter in recent
years in the Deep South, where many Republican lawmakers feared it
could lead to widespread drug use and social ills. That now appears to
be changing, with proposals to allow a form of medical marijuana
gaining momentum in a handful of Southern states.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical
marijuana, and this year powerful GOP lawmakers in Georgia and Alabama
are putting their weight behind bills that would allow for the limited
use of cannabis oil by those with specific medical conditions. Other
Southern states are also weighing the issue with varying levels of
support.

The key to swaying the hearts of conservative lawmakers has been the
stories of children suffering up to 100 seizures a day whose parents
say they could benefit from access to cannabidiol, which would be
administered orally in a liquid form. And proponents argue the
cannabis oil is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive
compound in marijuana that makes users feel high.

"I'm an unlikely champion for this cause," said Georgia Rep. Allen
Peake, a businessman from Macon who attended the evangelical Dallas
Theological Seminary. "Once people realize it's not a 6- year-old
smoking a joint, most folks realize this is the compassionate thing to
do."

Peake's bill has already earned the backing of more than 80 state
lawmakers, including several members of the House Republican
leadership, who signed on as co-sponsors and the state's largest
professional association of doctors. The bill would revive a long-
dormant research program allowing academic institutions to distribute
the medical cannabis and would be "limited in scope, tightly
restricted, well regulated and managed by doctors," Peake said.

Alabama Rep. Mike Ball, a retired hostage negotiator for the State
Patrol, is behind a bill that would allow people to possess the
cannabis oil if they have certain medical conditions. It passed a key
committee vote on Wednesday.

"The public is starting to understand what this is," said Ball, who
chairs a powerful House committee and is a prominent voice on law
enforcement issues. "The political fear is shifting from what will
happen if we pass it, to might what happen if we don't," Ball said.

The bills in Georgia and Alabama still have more vetting, and their
ultimate prospects are not certain. But what is happening offers a
strong signal of what's to come in other states.

In Louisiana, although a bill has yet to be introduced, a recent
committee hearing at the Capitol on legalizing medical marijuana drew
a standing-room-only crowd, and Gov. Bobby Jindal made comments last
month indicating he was willing to consider it.

"When it comes to medical marijuana ... if there is a legitimate
medical need, I'd certainly be open to making it available under very
strict supervision for patients that would benefit from that," Jindal
said, according to a report in The Advocate.
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