Excerpts: “Some Utah residents are working overtime to get medical marijuana on the state’s ballot. They seem to have just gotten a surprising new ally in their effort – Senator Orrin Hatch.
The senator – an octogenarian who is third in line for the presidency – publicly broke ranks with AG Jeff Sessions, GOP leaders and many of his Mormon constituents when he endorsed medicinal marijuana last week.
I asked what brought about his evolution on the issue.
‘There’s no transformation. I’ve always been for any decent medicine. I know that medical marijuana can do some things that other medicines can’t. I’m for alleviating pain and helping people with illness.’
Hatch is among a frustrated set of the nation’s policy makers who are up in arms over a report [see our blog post before this one] that Sessions’ Justice Department is blocking the DEA from approving dozens of research proposals.
Not to legalize weed. Not to sell it. Not even to smoke it. Merely to study it – just as is allowed with deadly and highly addictive opioids, booze and even cigarettes – to find out if 30 states and the District of Columbia have made grave mistakes by allowing marijuana to be used either medicinally or recreationally, or whether those states are actually on to something.
A bipartisan group on the Senate Appropriations Committee are working to enact what eventually could become a national standard for marijuana quality, and they want to start by allowing testing of pot already seized by the DEA. A handful of lawmakers are trying to pressure Sessions into relaxing his own personal war on marijuana that seems to be tying the hands of officials at the DEA.”
Much more in a recommended article, and kudos to Senator Hatch for his evolution on the issue….
…and please note that Utah’s other Senator, Mike Lee, is co-sponsoring another federal bill which would protect the rights of states and patients.
#MMJ #USpol #UTpol #Research #UtahNext #LetsDoThis #TRUCE
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See full article – Why Medical Marijuana Research Is Gaining Support From the GOP
