Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Rockingham - Supporters of medical marijuana are hoping 2015 could be the year for legalization.
State Rep. Kelly Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, is planning to introduce new legislation as soon as the North Carolina General Assembly goes into session later this month, and activists are ready to start lobbying.
"We're rolling up our sleeves and getting ready to hit early and often," said Perry Parks, a Rockingham resident and executive director of the North Carolina Cannabis Patients Network.
The organization will be hosting a Feb. 17 presentation in the Legislative Auditorium in Raleigh featuring Dr. Kevin Baiko, a primary-care physician from Hawaii who treats patients using cannabis.
Parks said Baiko is also building a hempcrete house in eastern North Carolina.
"The key idea there is to get people who will be affected by changing policy to talk with their legislators about falling in line with 20-something other states," Alexander said in a telephone interview last week.
Alexander, who has introduced similar legislation before, said the approach this year is to try to get a bill that sets up the framework for a medical cannabis industry in the state.
"Last year's vote on the cannabis oil bill demonstrated that people have recognized that there are medical uses for cannabis," he said.
Alexander said that hopefully this year, his colleagues will opt to legalize the whole plant instead of partial plant products.
There is at least $700 million in activity involving cannabis across the state – including underground medical users and recreational users – that is not taxed, Alexander said. He added North Carolina could generate $40 million to $50 million in revenue if it went the way of other states, like Colorado.
He said there would be "so many positives from us changing our drug policy."
"With all the things going on in this world and country right now, it's a waste of resources going after people using (cannabis) for medical use," he said.
There are at least two North Carolina men currently awaiting trial – one in Union County, one in Henderson County – for growing cannabis for medical use. Each faces multiple felony charges.
"The moral justification for this law is not there," said Parks, referring to the illegal status of the plant. He said the only reason cannabis was made illegal was because there needed to be a villain following the failure of alcohol prohibition.
"When I learned that it really worked, and then I educated myself...as a Christian, I have to come out for the truth," he said. "Where have the churches been in the spiritual battle of the deception regarding marijuana as medicine?"
To fellow Christians who oppose legalization, Parks points to Isaiah 10:1, which reads: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees..."
One of the platforms of the N.C. Democratic Party calls for "the immediate end of prosecution of medical users of marijuana as well as funding and staffing the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Commission of 2006 to ensure this effort moves forward."
The party also advocates for marijuana to be regulated similar to alcohol and urges "that enforcement of marijuana laws in North Carolina be a lowest law enforcement priority."
"We're trying to get as many co-sponsors (for Alexander's bill) as possible," Parks said. "Especially Republicans."
To help with that effort, Parks – a veteran of the Army and National Guard – has teamed up with Dave Hargitt, founder, president and chairman of the North Carolina chapter of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition.
"It's no longer a hippie, counterculture issue," said Hargitt, a retired Army major. "It's mainstream now."
Hargitt said he was "cautiously optimistic" in the direction the topic seems to be heading.
He said he's met with several Republicans who are willing to look at legislation and have reacted positively, though none have yet made a commitment.
Identifying as a libertarian Republican, Hargitt said he believes in the principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility and "getting the government out of our house."
He said based on those conservative principles, Republicans "need to embrace legalization for medical cannabis."
"It's a plant," Hargitt said, calling cannabis "one of the safest, most natural remedies that have been put on this earth for us."
Both Rep. Ken Goodman, D-Richmond, and Rep. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, have said they would support a medical cannabis bill as long as use was restricted to medical necessity and was tightly regulated.
"This is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democrat issue," Hargitt said. "It really is a human rights issue."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The year for medical pot? Rockingham man rallying support - Your Daily Journal - yourdailyjournal.com
Author: William R. Toler
Contact: Contact Us | Your Daily Journal - yourdailyjournal.com
Photo Credit: Rico Tubbs
Website: Your Daily Journal - yourdailyjournal.com
State Rep. Kelly Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, is planning to introduce new legislation as soon as the North Carolina General Assembly goes into session later this month, and activists are ready to start lobbying.
"We're rolling up our sleeves and getting ready to hit early and often," said Perry Parks, a Rockingham resident and executive director of the North Carolina Cannabis Patients Network.
The organization will be hosting a Feb. 17 presentation in the Legislative Auditorium in Raleigh featuring Dr. Kevin Baiko, a primary-care physician from Hawaii who treats patients using cannabis.
Parks said Baiko is also building a hempcrete house in eastern North Carolina.
"The key idea there is to get people who will be affected by changing policy to talk with their legislators about falling in line with 20-something other states," Alexander said in a telephone interview last week.
Alexander, who has introduced similar legislation before, said the approach this year is to try to get a bill that sets up the framework for a medical cannabis industry in the state.
"Last year's vote on the cannabis oil bill demonstrated that people have recognized that there are medical uses for cannabis," he said.
Alexander said that hopefully this year, his colleagues will opt to legalize the whole plant instead of partial plant products.
There is at least $700 million in activity involving cannabis across the state – including underground medical users and recreational users – that is not taxed, Alexander said. He added North Carolina could generate $40 million to $50 million in revenue if it went the way of other states, like Colorado.
He said there would be "so many positives from us changing our drug policy."
"With all the things going on in this world and country right now, it's a waste of resources going after people using (cannabis) for medical use," he said.
There are at least two North Carolina men currently awaiting trial – one in Union County, one in Henderson County – for growing cannabis for medical use. Each faces multiple felony charges.
"The moral justification for this law is not there," said Parks, referring to the illegal status of the plant. He said the only reason cannabis was made illegal was because there needed to be a villain following the failure of alcohol prohibition.
"When I learned that it really worked, and then I educated myself...as a Christian, I have to come out for the truth," he said. "Where have the churches been in the spiritual battle of the deception regarding marijuana as medicine?"
To fellow Christians who oppose legalization, Parks points to Isaiah 10:1, which reads: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees..."
One of the platforms of the N.C. Democratic Party calls for "the immediate end of prosecution of medical users of marijuana as well as funding and staffing the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Commission of 2006 to ensure this effort moves forward."
The party also advocates for marijuana to be regulated similar to alcohol and urges "that enforcement of marijuana laws in North Carolina be a lowest law enforcement priority."
"We're trying to get as many co-sponsors (for Alexander's bill) as possible," Parks said. "Especially Republicans."
To help with that effort, Parks – a veteran of the Army and National Guard – has teamed up with Dave Hargitt, founder, president and chairman of the North Carolina chapter of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition.
"It's no longer a hippie, counterculture issue," said Hargitt, a retired Army major. "It's mainstream now."
Hargitt said he was "cautiously optimistic" in the direction the topic seems to be heading.
He said he's met with several Republicans who are willing to look at legislation and have reacted positively, though none have yet made a commitment.
Identifying as a libertarian Republican, Hargitt said he believes in the principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility and "getting the government out of our house."
He said based on those conservative principles, Republicans "need to embrace legalization for medical cannabis."
"It's a plant," Hargitt said, calling cannabis "one of the safest, most natural remedies that have been put on this earth for us."
Both Rep. Ken Goodman, D-Richmond, and Rep. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, have said they would support a medical cannabis bill as long as use was restricted to medical necessity and was tightly regulated.
"This is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democrat issue," Hargitt said. "It really is a human rights issue."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The year for medical pot? Rockingham man rallying support - Your Daily Journal - yourdailyjournal.com
Author: William R. Toler
Contact: Contact Us | Your Daily Journal - yourdailyjournal.com
Photo Credit: Rico Tubbs
Website: Your Daily Journal - yourdailyjournal.com
