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Almost no one in TRUCE knew the first thing about actual working politics when we began some years ago.
And, full disclosure, we have gotten “schooled” by wily opponents more than a few times along the way, for example, credit to Rep. Daw for his maneuvering skills in the Legislature. Not to his proposals, but to how he’s able to game the whole state as he pursues his unproductive (for patients at least) agenda.
So we’ll be the first to admit we still have a lot to learn.
And yes, no pun intended, the fact is that the movement for safe, legal access to medical cannabis in Utah has been entirely a home-grown, grass roots effort… …and mostly operated on a shoe-string budget… …while most of the opposition has come from well-funded people in reasonably high positions – legislators, police chiefs, sheriffs, the UMA, Eagle Forum, and with caution flags flying from Temple Square, etc.
So, not necessarily our narrative of choice, but if it’s to be David and Goliath, we’ll promise you to at the least keep being the best David we can.
Meanwhile, there have been many bills this session – none of which are patient-centric or which represent true reform. As we assess their likely impact, all have aspects which will actually make reform and a real program harder to achieve.
But – there is time for someone besides the usual suspects to come up with yet another gambit – and some group may.
The bill in the article hasn’t been drafted, and there may not be time to write it, but from what we’ve read and heard – here and elsewhere – if introduced it should likely be called the “Confuse the Public and Kill the Initiative Act of 2018.”
It would be law-centric (as opposed to patient-centric). It wouldn’t provide nearly the same access the Initiative proposes – and in the eyes of many advocates, the Initiative itself is already more conservative than many could like.
How likely are we to like such a bill…..?? We imagine the answer for most of you reading is likely to be the same as ours.
We’ll read it if it’s proposed, of course, and we suppose we could be pleasantly surprised…
…But we believed in the Easter Bunny for a long time too. And believed that if we just shared the verifiable facts about medical cannabis – its medicinal benefits, truthfully answered people’s concerns about its impact on society, and otherwise colored inside the lines, then the light of evidence would win out and Utah would have started a program in 2016.
Remember when that happened? Right. Neither do we.
In other words, four years even on the edge of politics has made a few of us idealists just a wee bit more flinty-eyed and even cynical… …so it’s (extremely) watchful waiting on this story…
#MMJ #UTpol #UTleg #Initiative #UtahNext #PatientsBeforePolitics #TRUCE
See full article – Medical cannabis bill that ‘bridges the gap’ between sides has good chance of passing, insider says
