Utah Democrats wade into medical marijuana this weekend at their state party convention, which could further morph the simmering topic into a more partisan matter.
“It’s a political issue, because people are making it a political issue,” said Daisy Thomas, chair of the Utah Democratic Party, who said medical marijuana treatment should not be political, but between patients and physicians.
Still, a proposed platform change calls for the “right of individuals to use whole plant medical cannabis under the direction of a medical professional.”
“So why do this?” 2News asked.
“Because there are enough of our members who need this,” Thomas replied. “They need it to survive their day.”
“Whole plant” would signify the use of “raw flowers,” that a leader of a medical marijuana support group said can be smoked or vaporized, and work faster to ease seizures or nausea.
The language seems to go further than the Utah medical marijuana initiative, which will be on the ballot for voters to decide in November.
Governor Herbert and the Utah Medical Association have come out against the initiative. The LDS Church First Presidency also released a recent statement, which seemed to signal its opposition.
The chair of the Utah GOP, Rob Anderson, said the Republican Party has not taken a position.
“I don’t think it should be a partisan issue,” he said.
