Medical Marijuana: Dear Legislature, Please Stop the Reefer Madness
Political power in Utah belongs to the People. The People have delegated some of that power to the Legislature and Governor. Despite polling data showing that Utahns overwhelmingly favor legalization of medical marijuana, the Legislature and the Governor have repeatedly said no. Fine. We know where they stand. Now, they need to stand down while their bosses—the People—decide the issue.
Citizens have worked hard to educate the public and gather signatures for a citizens’ initiative to legalize medical marijuana. Clearly the issue will be on the 2018 ballot. If the Legislature and Governor respect (1) the Utah Constitution, (2) the People, and (3) good political process, they will not sabotage the People’s opportunity to have their say. Unfortunately—and I will say, uncharacteristically—it looks like the Legislature and Governor might lack such basic respect in this case. On marijuana, Utah leaders have lost their normal discipline. It must be reefer madness.
The best way, of course, to oppose a political issue that has momentum is to “champion” the issue, to take the lead, waive a false flag, and march it right off a cliff. It is dishonest and jaded, but it is effective. To see how cynical this scheme is, let’s take a look at just one of Representative Daw’s three cannabis bills, H.B. 197 (Cannabis Cultivation Amendments).
HB 197 is aimed at tripping up the initiative by disingenuously proposing to study something in Utah that can’t and won’t be studied in Utah, and requiring that it be studied in a way that, even if it could be studied, couldn’t and wouldn’t yield useful results. No doubt, the strategy is cute, but it is far beneath the standard by which our State should be governed and is normally governed.
Daw’s HB 197 is intended to bluff Utahns—who are good people, concerned with doing things the right way. “Don’t act quite yet,” the Legislature and Governor are saying. “Let’s study this, and get it right. We’ll even show our sincerity by kicking around a bill to establish elaborate growing and testing protocols.” The bill will be debated thoroughly. It will create great theater. But, the bill is just a show.
Were the bill’s growing and distribution system somehow to be funded and, then, implemented, the stopgap built into the bill to prevent real help for patients in need are the study protocols that guarantee worthless study data—meaning, of course, that no studies will be conducted. The bill specifies that only plants grown from seed can be utilized. That throws the scheme into the Upside Down.
Because the bill isn’t intended to be upfront, the effect of that simple-sounding provision is lost on most people. (Plants grow from seeds; right?). But the seed requirement is not lost on anyone who would be in a position to study cannabis. Plants grown from seed have genetic variability that wipes out the usefulness of data collected. Seed-grown plants are good for stoners, but not for scientists. To remove genetic variability, legitimate studies use cloned plants, all with the same genetics. No clones. No studies.
If Rep. Daw has done 10 minutes of research, he knows this. Probably, he’s betting that his bosses don’t know it, and won’t catch it. Cute. But wrong. My dear friends who want to responsibly run the State, please stop. Let the process work.