Medical marijuana, also referred to as cannabis, is a topic in the medical and drug field that brings up much debate over whether or not it should be legalized in all of the states.

Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states and Washington D.C. Currently only two states have legalized marijuana for recreational use. If medical marijuana is truly needed and beneficial, patients should have access to the treatment that will help them.

Several states have laws that decriminalize marijuana. Decriminalization of marijuana means that minor possession charges will no longer be handled as serious crimes. This could be compared to the legal actions taken towards traffic violations. Legalization is where charges would not exist on the state level.

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While expressing support for limited use of medical marijuana, law enforcement officials from across the state Wednesday warned of a slippery slope leading to legalized recreational use.

Their warning came during a hearing at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville of the Joint Study Committee on Prescription of Medical Cannabis for Serious Medical Conditions.

State lawmakers are considering allowing the use of cannabis oil - which contains anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety cannibidiols but is free of THC, the psychoactive ingredient that gets people high - to treat children with seizure disorders.

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The task force responsible for supplying information used in the May drug raid that left a toddler disfigured is being disbanded.

The news comes just as a Habersham County grand jury is hearing evidence about the Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team's role in the planning of the raid that left 19-month-old Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh seriously injured after a stun grenade exploded in his playpen.

"It's interesting that would happen now," said Mawuli Davis, the attorney representing the Phonesavanh family.

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ATLANTA - The question hovers over Kelli Hopkins every day.

It rises with her each morning as she feeds her two remaining sick children their seizure medicine five pills for Mary Elizabeth, seven for Michala. It follows as she packs them and their wheelchairs into the van for another hospital visit, another brain scan, another trip to the emergency room. It wakes her at 2 a.m. each night when she rolls over on the couch she's slept on for years only to see carpet where there used to be a cot.

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Proponents of legalization and other drug policy reforms make some important points.

It is true that most people who try drugs do not get addicted - they stop after using a few times.

It is also true - and regrettable - that America's incarceration rate is embarrassingly high and that blacks and Latinos bear the brunt of harsh arrest policies. And, finally, despite our best efforts, fully eradicating drug use and its consequences remains a distant dream.

But placing faith that legalization will help any of these issues is misguided. In fact, legalization threatens to further contribute to disproportionate health outcomes among minorities, all the while creating a massive new industry - Big Tobacco 2.0 - intent on addicting the most vulnerable in society.

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Is America's scientific research biased to focus on the harmful effects of drugs? That was one of the questions at the heart of a congressional hearing this summer seeking to understand more comprehensively the scientific evidence related to marijuana. And it was how Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, found herself being grilled by Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va.

"Dr. Volkow, your testimony seems to completely disregard lots of other data," he accused.

Volkow and I were the witnesses, along with a representative from the Food and Drug Administration. Connolly was particularly interested in learning why NIDA and the FDA - both part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - supported so little research into the potential medical uses of marijuana. He appeared exasperated by the focus on drugs' harmful effects, which "impeded the ability to have legitimate research that could benefit human health."

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In a world where you can be arrested and incarcerated for being in possession of a harmless plant, it is time to reform our drug policies and rethink the war on drugs altogether.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy reported the war on drugs is both counter-intuitive and harmful to society. Not only is prohibition completely ineffective, but in many ways it only exacerbates the problem and has led to a wide array of social and health issues throughout the globe. After a half century of failure, it is time to stop wasting time, tax money and resources and finally put an end to this ridiculous war on drugs.

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"Reefer Madness" was a 1930's propaganda style film extolling the dangers of marijuana.

The film has become infamous for its overdramatic portrayal that the drug would lead to chaos for its users. Decades later the rationale behind the effects of marijuana tends to be less extreme, but those people against its legalization should realize it's only a matter of time before other states decriminalize the substance.

The states of Washington and Colorado have become the lab rats for studying the legalization of pot. So far, chaos has not ensued. The latest news out of Colorado regarding marijuana was that the state could be missing out on $21.5 million in taxes because of too high taxes and fees (more government regulation), according to Fox31 Denver.

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Regarding "Analyze cost, benefits of legal pot" (Atlanta Forward, Aug. 21), J. Tom Morgan makes a cogent case for the decriminalization of marijuana, citing the racist scare tactics of the Depression-era director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the specious argument that it is a gateway to harder drugs.

Let's also consider these points: Legal marijuana can be taxed; its potency can be standardized; criminal enterprises will no longer profit from trafficking in it, and useful medical research into its therapeutic use can begin. And decriminalization will ease the current enormous strain on our courts and prisons. With the taxpayer money saved, maybe then we can turn our attention to the shortcomings of our infrastructure and educational systems.

FRED ROBERTS, DECATUR

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Two states have legalized small amounts of marijuana possession. More than 30 states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. Recently, The New York Times editorial board called for the decriminalization of marijuana. Kenneth Thompson, the district attorney of Kings County, N.Y., announced he will no longer prosecute misdemeanor marijuana possession cases.

In light of the changes in the rest of the country, the Georgia Legislature should examine whether to repeal Georgia's own prohibition of marijuana possession. Prior to 1937, cannabis was legal and recognized by the American Medical Association as a legitimate pharmaceutical. It was prescribed by doctors in this country and England; Queen Victoria was prescribed marijuana for menstrual cramps.

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During the 2014 General Assembly, Kay Godwin and I, co-founders of the Capitol Coalition of Conservative Leaders, and other conservatives even on the religious right supported the use of medical cannabis for intractable seizure disorder.

My heart broke for children suffering day and night with more than 300 violent seizures per week that only had one medical choice, and that was to basically be put in a nearly comatose state by prescription drugs. The accounts of parents who had used medical cannabis oil and had amazing success - in some cases taking the seizures down to less than two per week - were encouraging.

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If the Obama administration is to be believed, America's infamous "War on Drugs" is over. In its most recent National Drug Control Strategy, released last week, officials promised a more humane and sympathetic approach to drug users and addiction. Out, the report suggests, are "tough on crime" policies. Rather than more police and more prisons, officials talk about public health and education. They promise to use evidence-based practices to combat drug abuse. And they want to use compassionate messaging and successful reentry programs to reduce the stigma drug offenders and addicts face.

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The toddler critically injured during a SWAT raid in Habersham County is headed home to Wisconsin and the long road to recovery, a lawyer for the family told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bounkham Phonesavanh was seriously injured when a "flash bang" grenade went off in his playpen during an early morning raid a month ago that netted no drugs and no drug dealer. The explosion caused a brain injury, collapsed a lung and disfigured the boy's face, said Mawuli Davis, an attorney for the family.

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Governor's Office Cites Related Florida Case.

Opponents of Law That Took Effect Tuesday Preparing to Sue.

The state will hold off on implementation until a court rules on a related Florida case, As a new state law to drug test welfare recipients went into effect Tuesday, state officials said they will delay enforcing it, even as opponents were girding to sue.

With the passage this spring of House Bill 772, the Georgia Legislature and Gov. Nathan Deal approved the nation's hardest-hitting law that calls for drug tests on recipients of poverty aid.

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Committee Will Look at Legalizing Limited Use.

Georgia lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to study the legalization of medical marijuana.

General Assembly leaders began this week to appoint committee members charged with making recommendations on the issue, after the state House and Senate failed to reach a compromise in the waning hours of this year's legislative session. State Rep. Allen Peake, RMacon, will lead the committee along with Senate Health and Human Services Chairwoman Renee Unterman, R-Buford.

The appointments come amid a flurry of announcements from the state Capitol over assignments to a number of panels. Some study committees spend state money to look into issues of debatable value, such as self-driving cars. Others will tackle serious issues, such as the state's controversial attempts to store water in underground aquifers.

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Congratulations to the leadership of Holly Springs and to their police for preparing all their officers with drug overdose kits and the first to do so in the state of Georgia. As a result, they saved a life recently with one of these kits, recommended by one of their own who had lost her child to drug-induced asthma. What are the rest of our communities going to do? Sandy Springs, wake up.

RALPH MARION, SANDY SPRINGS

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Trained last week, Holly Springs cop saved woman from overdose

In the nine months since her daughter's death, Holly Springs Lieutenant Tanya Smith has done more than grieve.

Smith was instrumental in the passage of legislation allowing drug overdose kits to be carried by non-medical personnel.

Last week her department became the first in the state to carry the naloxone kits and now it has paid off. Sergeant Nathan Ernst used it Wednesday morning to save a 24-year-old woman who was unconscious and experiencing seizures from an overdose.

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It doesn't matter whether you credit God or Charles Darwin. The looks that babies give us are designed to bring out our most protective instincts.

And so the image of 19-month-old Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh, with his face burned away by a flash-bang police grenade hurled into his playpen, has done more than wring a few hearts.

In little more than a week, the injured toddler has sparked a rare alliance of Georgia's disparate political factions: rural Republicans and urban blacks, tea partyers and liberal Democrats - all out to rein in the use of "no-knock" search warrants.

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Gov. Nathan Deal said Monday he's awaiting an investigation of the botched drug raid in Habersham County that left a child on life support to determine if any executive action or state legislation is needed.

"Any time you have bad facts like this one, it does give you cause for concern," Deal said. "It's one of those things that require a thorough investigation =C2=85 to know what if anything we can learn from it."

Habersham County District Attorney Brian Rickman said he is investigating whether any officers violated the law when they used a controversial "no-knock warrant" for a raid on a Cornelia house Wednesday =2E

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The Habersham County toddler's injuries ("Toddler severely hurt in police raid," News, May 30) are the predictable result of our militarized policing and the drug war. After four decades of the "War on Drugs," America's police forces have more military hardware than do many countries' armies. According to the Cato Institute, more than 50,000 "no knock" warrants are issued here each year. These military-style raids predictably lead to tragedies like the one Thursday. Countries like Switzerland and Portugal, in contrast, treat addiction and drug abuse as a public health issue. It's time we follow their examples; it's time for a cease fire.

WARREN GOODWIN, ATLANTA

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