Almost everyone in Union has heard of the medical marijuana debate; however, most people in Union have not had a chance voice their opinions on the subject. Last week, a public hearing apparently occurred at the Union Community Center where only 50 residents voiced their opinions on medical marijuana use. The Union Board of Mayor and Alderman will both attempt to make a decision (if they have not already) on allowing medical marijuana “cultivation, processing and distribution within the city limits” (Maze). While their decision may appear to reflect the wishes of the Union community, Union residents deserve to have an opportunity to form an opinion on this issue based on current scholarly research; the Union Board of Mayor and Alderman should also realize that the public hearing may not accurately reflect the wishes of Union residents.
As reported by Brent Maze in last week’s edition of The Newton County Appeal, many residents opposed medical marijuana without considering the actually medical benefits of cannabis. Before one can understand the benefits of medical marijuana, one must first understand what constitutes this medicine. According to Dr. Peter Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School, most medicinal marijuana proves highly effective in controlling chronic pain that many millions of Americans (including several Union residents) deal with every day. For example, medical marijuana seems to reduce the pain of nerve disease without the draining effects of “highly sedating” and potentially addictive drugs (Grinspoon). Medical marijuana can also prove a muscle relaxant, help lessen the tremors of Parkinson’s disease, and help those with many other often chronic conditions—fibromyalgia, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, HIV, irritable bowel syndrome, and Crohn’s disease. Research also exists that seems to indicate positive effects of medical marijuana on mental health as well; many veterans claim medical marijuana use helps with Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder (Grinspoon). Essentially, medical marijuana can help a plethora of conditions, and Union residents deserve all treatment options available.
Moreover, another form of medication related to medical marijuana exists as well, and Union residents should understand the difference. CBD comes from the hemp plant and serves a component of marijuana; however, CBD-dominant strains do not include THC, the substance in marijuana that causes the “high.” Therefore, patients on CBD-dominant strains do not receive an alteration of consciousness. CBD can help treat insomnia, anxiety, and even epilepsy. In fact, a CBD-dominant strain of medical marijuana known as Charlotte’s Web is one of the only known substances to help control Dravet syndrome, a form of childhood epilepsy (Grinspoon). This could potentially help a child within our own community if Union so desires to adopt this policy. Medical marijuana does not exist exclusively in the one form, and Union residents should know this key difference.
Dr. Grinspoon also asserts that “[p]art of its [medical marijuana’s] allure is that it is clearly safer than opiates (it is impossible to overdose on and far less addictive) and it can take the place of NSAIDs such as Advil or Aleve, if people can’t take them due to problems with their kidneys or ulcers or GERD.” Many painkillers consist of opiates, and these prove entirely legal; these painkillers can prove highly addictive as anyone who has taken them will know, and they can make one feel “loopy.” One can also overdose on many of these currently legal painkillers as well, yet one can still get them at any pharmacy in Union. Medical marijuana can serve much of the same functions while proving much safer; however, Union residents currently do not have access to this medicine, and a group of 49 residents want things to stay that way for the entire town.
Despite the many benefits of medical marijuana, the 49 Union residents who spoke out against medical marijuana within the city limits at the public hearing may not accurately reflect the views of the community, and the Union Board of Mayor and Aldermen should not make a decision based on the views of these people due to several factors. Firstly, this hearing consisted of only 50 residents while Union has a population of around 2000 people. 50 residents proves too small a sample size to get an accurate representation of the community’s opinion, and whoever planned the public hearing did not adequately communicate this event to the public. I did not even know until I saw the article in last week’s paper. If the Board of Mayor and Alderman truly want an accurate representation of the people’s views, they should hold a referendum for all voters.
In addition to these issues with the hearing, the opposing views of most people at the hearing rested primarily on the imagined potential for crime rather than the actual medical benefits; medical marijuana in Union will likely not bring an increase in crime. Although marijuana does prove illegal at the federal level, neither the Obama administration nor the Trump administration prosecuted medical marijuana use (Grinspoon). A study by the University of Texas at Dallas has also found that “legalization of medical cannabis is not an indicator of increased crime” (“Study: Medical Marijuana Legalization Doesn’t Lead to More Crime”). This study proved extremely thorough, tracking crime across all 50 states between 1990 and 2006. The researchers used data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report to track the rates for homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and auto theft. As good science, the study also took into account sociodemographic and econometric variables that would have affected the crime rate (“Study: Medical Marijuana Legalization Doesn’t Lead to More Crime”). Dr. Robert Morris, associate professor of criminology and lead author of this study, states the findings of this study best: “The main finding is that we found no increase in crime rates resulting from medical marijuana legalization. In fact, we found some evidence of decreasing rates of some types of violent crime, namely homicide and assault.” Crime did not increase after the legalization of medical marijuana in these states as this study finds. Some types of crime rates even went down after medical marijuana legalization. Therefore, Union residents should not blindly believe the words of those who push the narrative that allowing medical marijuana within the city limits will lead to more crime.
Medical marijuana could potentially help many Union residents. The substance has a plethora of medical benefits and proves less dangerous than opiates, which one can currently obtain legally in Union. The lone resident at the hearing in favor of medical marijuana believed that this policy would bring “additional traffic and business” to Union (Maze). Economic benefits prove beyond the scope of this article, but the potential for economic improvement would certainly benefit Union. Furthermore, the arguments of many medical marijuana opponents do not hold up to scrutiny, and the public hearing had too many flaws for anyone to consider the views of these 49 people as representative of the town as a whole. If the Board of Mayor and Alderman truly want to follow the wishes of the community, they should hold a referendum for all voters in Union. The people of Union deserve to make informed decisions. The people of Union deserve to have their voices heard. The people of Union deserve to participate in the process of democracy.
Sources
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/medical-marijuana-2018011513085.
https://news.utdallas.edu/social-sciences/study-medical-marijuana-legal….
Send your Union community news to Matt Hennington at mch.2000@hotmail.com.
