Robert Celt
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An Ohio group with national backing says voters will decide the fate of medical marijuana on Election Day in November, but an anti-drug expert in Cincinnati says it's the wrong approach.
WLWT News 5 investigative reporter Todd Dykes spoke to people on both sides of the issue and discovered when it comes to cannabis, common ground is not easy to find.
Mary Haag is president and CEO of PreventionFirst!, an organization that encourages people throughout Greater Cincinnati to make healthy lifestyle choices.
"We can't really call marijuana medicine. It's not a legitimate medicine," Mary Haag said. "The brain is not fully developed until we're about 25. That's just the way it is, and using any kind of mind-altering substance impacts that development."
Haag is talking about marijuana, which some Ohio voters would like to see legalized for medical use.
She's not opposed to certain components of pot being used to treat illnesses, if those parts of the plant undergo Food and Drug Administration testing.
"It needs to go through the FDA process," she said. "There is no drug that can or should be smoked, but when we get to potential components of marijuana that might have medicinal benefits, then let's find out what that is."
Haag added: "Most of our medicines have come from plants. They're plant-based, but they've gone through that rigorous process. Because, let's face it, any medicine is a toxin. I don't care if it's penicillin or aspirin or a narcotic. Any of those are toxins to our bodies. And that's why we have the FDA process. That's why we look at our medicines and determine what's the exact dose that we need to reach the therapeutic intent that we have for whatever the symptom of the disease might be."
But some medical experts say waiting for FDA approval for marijuana is the wrong approach.
"We certainly know the FDA works very slowly," Dr. O'Dell Owens said. "It's just too slow. There are people who are suffering. We know there's a relief. We should do it."
Owens, who is medical director at the Cincinnati Health Department, had been against legalization for years, but he says medical marijuana's time has come.
"I think there's enough evidence out there that people have been smoking marijuana for a long time, and there is within that group that sense of, 'Yes. There seems to be relief,'" Owens said. "Of people with seizures, of people with the nausea from chemotherapy."
Owens hopes other medical experts will speak out about the possibility of legalizing medical marijuana in Ohio whether they're for it or against it.
"I think people should speak up. I'm certainly speaking more as O'Dell Owens, a member of the community, a physician than the medical director of the Health Department. I'm not speaking, really, for the Health Department. It's not really yet a public health issue in one sense. But I think people should speak up. People with credibility should speak up."
Owens continued, "I think we're on the right path because they're (lawmakers) looking at this now, and they probably will pass some sort of legislation that's going to allow a very narrow use of medical marijuana. So why not speak up? I think when you are morally right you speak up."
E.R. Beach agrees. He owns Hemptations, stores that sell products made from hemp, which is marijuana's non-psychoactive cousin.
Beach points out there's been no real outcry in the 23 other states and the District of Columbia that have legalized pot for medical use.
"Nobody out there is saying we shouldn't be doing this because it's unsafe for patients," Beach said. "There's not doctors coming out in those other states with studies showing this isn't working. It is working. It works for everything that they say it does. ... If a doctor says you should be able to use medical marijuana for an ailment then that should be it."
Haag remains skeptical. And she doesn't think the future of medical marijuana should be left in the hands of lawmakers or voters.
"If somebody is trying to pass at a state level ways to make, quote, 'marijuana medicine,' then we would oppose both," she said". Because again, if we're looking to make a drug or a medicine then there's a process we need to follow. None of this should be developed legislatively nor by a voter initiative."
Critics of marijuana might not like it, but a national group called the Marijuana Policy Project is working with an Ohio-based organization to pass a medical marijuana ballot initiative on Election Day.
The organization working in Ohio is called Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, or OMM.
Starting in April workers and volunteers will try to collect the more than 305,000 signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Should Fate Of Medical Marijuana In Ohio Be Left In Hands Of Lawmakers, Voters?
Author: Todd Dykes
Contact: WLWT
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: WLWT
WLWT News 5 investigative reporter Todd Dykes spoke to people on both sides of the issue and discovered when it comes to cannabis, common ground is not easy to find.
Mary Haag is president and CEO of PreventionFirst!, an organization that encourages people throughout Greater Cincinnati to make healthy lifestyle choices.
"We can't really call marijuana medicine. It's not a legitimate medicine," Mary Haag said. "The brain is not fully developed until we're about 25. That's just the way it is, and using any kind of mind-altering substance impacts that development."
Haag is talking about marijuana, which some Ohio voters would like to see legalized for medical use.
She's not opposed to certain components of pot being used to treat illnesses, if those parts of the plant undergo Food and Drug Administration testing.
"It needs to go through the FDA process," she said. "There is no drug that can or should be smoked, but when we get to potential components of marijuana that might have medicinal benefits, then let's find out what that is."
Haag added: "Most of our medicines have come from plants. They're plant-based, but they've gone through that rigorous process. Because, let's face it, any medicine is a toxin. I don't care if it's penicillin or aspirin or a narcotic. Any of those are toxins to our bodies. And that's why we have the FDA process. That's why we look at our medicines and determine what's the exact dose that we need to reach the therapeutic intent that we have for whatever the symptom of the disease might be."
But some medical experts say waiting for FDA approval for marijuana is the wrong approach.
"We certainly know the FDA works very slowly," Dr. O'Dell Owens said. "It's just too slow. There are people who are suffering. We know there's a relief. We should do it."
Owens, who is medical director at the Cincinnati Health Department, had been against legalization for years, but he says medical marijuana's time has come.
"I think there's enough evidence out there that people have been smoking marijuana for a long time, and there is within that group that sense of, 'Yes. There seems to be relief,'" Owens said. "Of people with seizures, of people with the nausea from chemotherapy."
Owens hopes other medical experts will speak out about the possibility of legalizing medical marijuana in Ohio whether they're for it or against it.
"I think people should speak up. I'm certainly speaking more as O'Dell Owens, a member of the community, a physician than the medical director of the Health Department. I'm not speaking, really, for the Health Department. It's not really yet a public health issue in one sense. But I think people should speak up. People with credibility should speak up."
Owens continued, "I think we're on the right path because they're (lawmakers) looking at this now, and they probably will pass some sort of legislation that's going to allow a very narrow use of medical marijuana. So why not speak up? I think when you are morally right you speak up."
E.R. Beach agrees. He owns Hemptations, stores that sell products made from hemp, which is marijuana's non-psychoactive cousin.
Beach points out there's been no real outcry in the 23 other states and the District of Columbia that have legalized pot for medical use.
"Nobody out there is saying we shouldn't be doing this because it's unsafe for patients," Beach said. "There's not doctors coming out in those other states with studies showing this isn't working. It is working. It works for everything that they say it does. ... If a doctor says you should be able to use medical marijuana for an ailment then that should be it."
Haag remains skeptical. And she doesn't think the future of medical marijuana should be left in the hands of lawmakers or voters.
"If somebody is trying to pass at a state level ways to make, quote, 'marijuana medicine,' then we would oppose both," she said". Because again, if we're looking to make a drug or a medicine then there's a process we need to follow. None of this should be developed legislatively nor by a voter initiative."
Critics of marijuana might not like it, but a national group called the Marijuana Policy Project is working with an Ohio-based organization to pass a medical marijuana ballot initiative on Election Day.
The organization working in Ohio is called Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, or OMM.
Starting in April workers and volunteers will try to collect the more than 305,000 signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Should Fate Of Medical Marijuana In Ohio Be Left In Hands Of Lawmakers, Voters?
Author: Todd Dykes
Contact: WLWT
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: WLWT