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Things to keep in mind as we embark on months of intense debate if the Utah Medical Cannabis Initiative (UMCI) is on the ballot: With the medical facts and the public favoring it, opponents are left with limited options:
They can….
a) Focus on the small subset of drawbacks and concerns which do need to be managed as there are no perfect non-abusable medicines.
Aspirin and Tylenol, e.g., also relieve pain, and can be misused – and the Utah Medical Association (UMA) is not proposing prohibiting them.
b) Use “evidence” from dubious sources. We see (and report on) this all the time. “National Merit Scholar loses 60 IQ points after smoking pot” falls into this category.
c) Attack the motives and characters of advocates.
d) Claim typical patients are 20 year old healthy young men (when older people with chronic conditions are the real growth demographic).
e) Pretend there’s no difference between medicinal cannabis and “recreational” cannabis, and then use every possible argument against recreational as an argument against medical.
This classic debate technique is called “dragging a red herring across the stage” – because it distracts the conversation from the real topic. It’s being used by Rep. Daw, the Sutherland Institute, UMA – and most recently – Governor Herbert.
We intend to call this out every time we see it – and we urge you to do the same.
Just as the Libertas Institute’s Connor Boyack does in this eloquent Op-Ed….
Excerpts:
“At present, legally allowing sick Utahns to use medical cannabis for treatment and relief is seemingly inevitable. One poll after another confirms over three-quarters of Utah voters support the effort. But that hasn’t stopped opponents from sounding off with their fears and false claims.
Add Gov. Gary Herbert to that list. In a recent statement, the state’s chief executive said he would ‘actively oppose’ the proposed initiative, which at this point is mere days away from being officially certified for November’s ballot by Herbert’s lieutenant governor.
Why oppose what 77 percent of Utahns support? In his statement, Herbert points to a recent law he signed, HB197, saying that it ‘allows for the implementation of careful safeguards for safe use.’
Herbert continues by claiming that the UMCI, if turned into law by voters, would ‘potentially open the door to recreational use.’
Yet nearly two dozen states have adopted medical cannabis laws without any recreational ‘slippery slope.’ It is extremely unlikely that a majority of Utahns would ever vote to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
But that ‘potential,’ which is many decades away if at all (support for recreational use polls below 20 percent), is no reason to deny legitimate medical opportunities to the sick and suffering among us — those with cancer, epilepsy, MS and more.”
#MMJ #UMCI #RedHerrings #Governor #UtahNext #UTpol #UTgov #TRUCE
See full article – Connor Boyack: Gov. Herbert has been misled on medical cannabis
