HHS Secretary: “No Such Thing as Medical Marijuana”

Marijuana

Last week U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told news media in Ohio,

“There really is no such thing as medical marijuana. . . . There is no FDA approved use of marijuana, a botanical plant. I just want to be very clear about that.”

The statement echoes comments the DEA Chief made in 2015 saying that marijuana is not medicine and that medical marijuana is “a joke.”

Marijuana’s potency varies from plant to plant, depending on growing conditions.

Marijuana “doses” cannot be measured the way pills or cough syrups can. Studies have concluded that attempts to dose of marijuana are highly unpredictable.

What if you opened a bottle of Aspirin to find no two pills were the same size or contained the same levels of active ingredients? That would be unimaginable, but it happens with so-called “medical” marijuana.

We have said it for years: Marijuana may be many things, but medicine simply is not one of them.

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Commission Announces Locations for Marijuana Farms in Arkansas

Marijuana

Yesterday the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission announced the five companies who will be authorized to grow marijuana in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writes,

The winning bidders are:

-Natural State Medicinals Cultivation of Jefferson County

-Bold Team LLC (Woodruff County)

-Natural State Wellness Enterprises (Jefferson and Jackson counties)

-Osage Creek Cultivation (Carroll County)

-Delta Medical Cannabis Company Inc. (Jackson County)

Each group can only operate one growing center, so Natural State Wellness Enterprises must chose between its two winning proposals.

The Arkansas Constitution lets cities and counties vote to prohibit marijuana farms and stores by circulating petitions to place the issue on the ballot.

If you want to learn more about how your county can prohibit marijuana farms and stores, contact our office at (501) 375-7000.

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Marijuana Activists Lobby Legislators for Marijuana in Schools

Marijuana

Little Rock, Ark. – On Tuesday, activists promoting marijuana gathered at the Arkansas Capitol to lobby for changes to the state’s medical marijuana amendment. Marijuana lobbyists, such as the Drug Policy Education Group, want to make it easier for Arkansans to qualify to use marijuana. In a more egregious proposal, they have asked legislators to pass a law to allow students to bring marijuana to school.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “It is shocking to hear that they want kids to be able to use marijuana at school.  As a former public school teacher, I cannot imagine students using marijuana at school.  Our schools are facing enough challenges without grownups pushing for kids to be able to use marijuana at school.  Kids already can’t tell marijuana laced cookies or candies from normal ones.  Bring those to school and see how many grade school kids end up high or in the emergency room like the students in Colorado and other states. Frankly, this is an irresponsible request that could harm our children who are in school.”

Cox said the group also wants to make it easier for Arkansans to use marijuana. “Anyone who is paying attention knows that these people are not going to rest until Arkansas has full-blown recreational marijuana.  This has always been their mission.  Already, anyone with pain or nausea can qualify to use medical marijuana.  Adding more conditions to the 18 that are already legal means that almost everyone, even the healthiest among us, can qualify to smoke marijuana.”

Cox also criticized the push to lower taxes on the so-called medical marijuana program. “The State of Arkansas is already subsidizing this so-called medical marijuana program.  No one knows if it will ever be self-supporting.  Yet, marijuana proponents want their taxes lowered even more.  It is bad enough that the 47% of Arkansans who voted against medical marijuana have to deal with it being legal, now they’re expected to pay for it with their tax dollars.”

Cox said his group plans to continue fighting against efforts to expand marijuana in Arkansas.

Family Council is a conservative education and research organization based in Little Rock.

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