Medical Marijuana
I support the Compassionate Care Act
What is the Compassionate Care Act?
The Compassionate Care Act (S.150), calling for the legal, controlled dispensation of medicinal cannabis, states:
…the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a report presenting nearly one hundred conclusions related to the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoid use. Among other things, this report concluded that there is evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective for the treatment of several medical conditions and symptoms, including chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and the improvement of multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms;
as well as
a wide range of medical and public health organizations have recognized the medical utility of cannabis, including the American Academy of HIV Medicine, the American College of Physicians, the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the U.S. Pain Foundation, and the Epilepsy Foundation.
A Very Conservative Bill
After accounting for most of the objections from fellow legislators, the final draft of this bill is one of the most, if not the most, restrictive proposals in the nation. Read the summary for yourself!
Why Was This Bill Killed?
So why did Greenwood’s Representative John McCravy and House Speaker Pro-Tem Thomas Pope kill this on a technicality using an extreme interpretation of the State Constitution? The challenge to this ruling barely squeaked by with a four vote majority – hardly a strong consensus in the State House.
An 8-page Diatribe
In an 8-page diatribe to FITSNews, Rep McCravy invokes:
- American Idol contestant Caleb Kennedy who killed a man with his car after using a vaping device while driving
- Fear that this bill is nothing more than a trojan horse creating an “infrastructure for future recreational marijuana”
- Incorrect medical claims that existing prescription drugs authorized by the FDA make the need for medical marijuana redundant.
However, he didn’t share that these drugs are authorized for use in only very limited situations. For example, Epidiolex, which McCravy states could be used for seizures, is authorized for treatment of only 2 very rare disorders: Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. These medications also put the power of availability and pricing in the hands of the pharmaceutical industry. - A claim that “…real science and clinical trials have not confirmed the benefits of marijuana for other conditions [outside of seizures, MS and appetite stimulation]”.
Harvard Medical School would like to object to that statement.
My Position
I will fully support the Compassionate Care Act when it is submitted again in 2023. Only a handful of individuals stopped it this year. Elect me and remove one of the main obstacles to bringing relief to thousands who are suffering in South Carolina.