A Path Forward for Medical Marijuana in Utah
On August 23, 2018, Utah’s establishment—the Mormon Church, big business leaders, and powerful government officials—gathered the media and came out openly against Utah patients’ initiative to legalize medical marijuana, Proposition 2. The establishment’s claims against Proposition 2 have been widely criticized as being dishonest, creating an unusual and no doubt uncomfortable position for several members of the opposition coalition. Further, despite the establishment’s opposition, polling indicates that a significant majority of Utahns still supports medical marijuana. Unsurprisingly, the establishment’s unified front is beginning to crack and various coalition members are seeking a peaceful resolution that would legalize medical marijuana without worsening a growing religious division in the State. If those individuals are serious, here is the pathway forward.
Step 1: Establishment leaders must regain credibility with patients and citizens and show that they will move forward in good faith. To accomplish this, establishment leaders must disavow the most egregious lies their coalition put forward: namely, (1) that Proposition 2 is recreational, not medicinal, (2) that medical marijuana already is available to patients, and (3) that a responsible law must involve “prescriptions” and “pharmacies.” The significance of those lies is discussed here, here, and here. Once the coalition injected the rank dishonesty into the public discussion and spent serious advertising money to spread the deception, it is not enough to silently walk away from the lies. Establishment leaders need to proactively refute their own deception.
Step 2: Establishment leaders must agree to support guiding principles that will inform future legislative actions in the 2019 legislative general session. The principles must contain workable, recognized standards, such as doctor “recommendations” and distribution through “dispensaries” and timelines/penalties for implementation. A special legislative session before January is not needed. In fact, a special session to address medical marijuana would be spectacularly inappropriate. The Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, the President of the Utah Senate, and at least 20 legislators are leaving the Legislature at the end of this year. They did not face voters in 2018, nor will they ever face voters to account for whatever they might do in a special legislative session in response (or contradiction) to the citizens’ verdict regarding Proposition 2. A low-trust atmosphere has been created by the actions, inaction, and misrepresentations of the opposition coalition, which includes many of the retiring legislators. Any policy changes to the Initiative language must be done in the open by legislators who have been recently elected and who will face constituents to account for their actions.
Step 3: Establishment leaders must urge voters to support Proposition 2. Here’s why. First, despite seeing many, many suffering patients for several years, the Utah Legislature has shown no true willingness to address, much less pass, a workable medical marijuana plan. Second, as stated above, the opposition coalition is so opposed to medical marijuana that it was willing to promulgate lies to stop Proposition 2. It is not realistic to think legislators and coalition members have suddenly changed their views on medical marijuana. Rather, they are seeking peace, because they are facing a humiliating defeat and because they are embarrassed about being called out on the coalition’s dishonesty. Therefore, legislators and the opposition coalition must agree to negotiate from a position where their refusal to act responsibly does not deny patients access to the help they need.
The easiest position in the political arena is “no.” If Proposition 2 fails, it will be too easy to stop a workable solution by arguing that every workable proposal is too this, too that, doesn’t go far enough, goes too far, could be tightened, should be loosened, etc., etc., etc. The Legislature’s “do nothing” position must be the terms of Proposition 2, thereby forcing legislators and the opposition coalition to act in good faith to proactively change a situation they oppose, rather than—through the defeat of Proposition 2 allow them to passively protect a situation they favor (i.e., no patient access to medical marijuana). Proposition 2 is a rebuke of the Legislature’s inaction. The reality is that the rebuke must be delivered, before the Legislature will move.
Polling suggests that the establishment decreased support for Proposition by about 12%, when it instructed active Mormons to vote against Proposition 2. The lies told to move this faithful group must be disavowed by the people who told the lies, not just by the media and public rebuke. Such significant misrepresentations are beyond the pale of acceptable political participation. They are impossible to recall in a politically-charged atmosphere. The accountable thing for the establishment leaders to do to remedy the deceit is to now champion passage of Proposition 2, so that they and the Utah Legislature will be forced to proactively work for, instead of passively oppose, needed relief for struggling Utahns.
The Utah Bee seeks to share both sides of a debate. If anyone who opposes Proposition 2 wants to submit a piece with their views, we will gladly accept it.