Tennessee should move ahead on medical marijuana

Nicole Gross uses an oral syringe to give her son Chase his daily dose of a medical marijuana oil, known as Charlotte's Web, at their home in Colorado Springs, Colo., in this Jan. 1, 2015, photo.
Nicole Gross uses an oral syringe to give her son Chase his daily dose of a medical marijuana oil, known as Charlotte's Web, at their home in Colorado Springs, Colo., in this Jan. 1, 2015, photo.

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Georgia Gov. Deal signs order requiring readiness for marijuana law

Medical marijuana will soon be legal in Georgia, and that's a good thing.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Friday signed the hard-fought bill that was two years in the making. Now state agencies will prepare to implement it. The Peach State becomes one of 24 states plus Washington, D.C., to legalize marijuana for certain medical uses.

The Georgia House voted 160-1 to approve a Senate compromise. The bill originally made people with nine medical conditions eligible for treatment with cannabis oil that has a minimal level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that makes pot users feel high. The compromise deleted one illness -- fibromyalgia. The remaining eight conditions are seizure disorders, sickle cell anemia, cancer, Crohn's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis, mitochondrial disease and Parkinson's disease.

A medical marijuana bill was expected to be introduced this week in Tennessee, but politicians and even lobbyists have suddenly gone quiet in the Volunteer State. Perhaps next week, some politicians suggested. The measure is expected to allow cannabis to be ingested or applied externally through oil, or its vapors used like an asthma inhaler. It's aim is to help people with conditions such as cancer, HIV glaucoma or MS, but "not those with chronic pain or PTSD." A lobbyist told reporters that the bill will be crafted "so conditions can't be faked or gamed."

It's too bad -- actually cruel -- that so many Tennessee lawmakers appear to have such cold feet.

Medical marijuana can be grown to accentuate medical cures and lower or even eliminate the "high" of ordinary pot.

Plenty of medications already on the market are far more harmful than medical marijuana. It is cruel and foolish not to use for good purpose what nature and improving research and technology has given us.

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