MARIJUANA IGNORANCE, FROM THE GOP DEBATE STAGE TO BEACON HILL

Image by Kent Buckley

At the most recent GOP presidential debate, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul bravely attempted to educate his party on the use of medical cannabis oil for children suffering from daily seizures. As one would expect, his words were not welcomed warmly. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush warned that ending the war on marijuana users was a non-starter in this era of rampant opiate abuse. Paul argued that Bush was supporting the removal of children from parents who merely provide life-saving cannabis oil, and then this happened …

“We are misleading young people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having a beer.”

Those were the words of candidate Carly Fiorina, whose statement is actually factual, but not for the reason she thinks. Excessive alcohol use is responsible for 88,000-plus deaths every year, while cannabis—of course—kills nobody. Still don’t get it? Fiorina was attempting, lamely, to make the case that marijuana is more dangerous beer, but that is patently false. She is either an ignoramus, which is doubtful since she’s an accomplished businesswoman, or a damn liar. As they say in politics, you decide.

The morning after the debate, local radio host Jon Meterparel opined about how silly it is for Paul to claim that “bathing” children in cannabis oil can help calm seizures. Paul said nothing about “bathing” anyone, still Meterparel and his equally clueless co-host Kim Kerrigan completely missed the point. Why should they know any better? After all, it’s not like Massachusetts doesn’t have more than a few moms—Lisa Cole, Cindy Gedick, Jill Hitchman-Osborn—who have been clamoring to get access to this medicine for their children.

It makes you wonder: How can somebody be paid to talk about local and national news, and still be so behind the times? That Meterparel and Kerrigan are completely ignorant to the plight of these parents while being paid to wax on relevant topics is beyond sad. It’s tragic. They’re even behind the national likes of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, whose CNN work on medicinal cannabis they should watch immediately. When they’re done with that, the duo should have local parents who are advocates come on their show and set the record straight once and for all.

Elsewhere on the provincial medical marijuana front, the Beacon Compassion Center was recently dealt a setback when the Board of Selectmen in Bellingham denied their proposal to open a cultivation center in town. Bob Lobel, the legendary sports broadcaster, is serving on the board of directors for Beacon, and noted that the small town legislators had no reservations about transferring liquor licenses at the same meeting, all while claiming to lack enough information about the potential impact of a medical marijuana facility. Their loss. Beacon has an upcoming hearing in Foxborough to seek an opportunity to open in that town, while Framingham has already approved Beacon’s proposal to open there.

This coming weekend, reform activists will gather on Boston Common for the annual MassCann/NORML Boston Freedom Rally. The delayed rollout of medical marijuana is sure to be a talking point for many of the event’s speakers, but so are the dueling campaigns for marijuana legalization in the Commonwealth. In that battle, both sides are expected to have people canvassing the event for signatures. Finally, some good news for a change.