Pros and cons of medical marijuana debated

“Doctors are already telling their patients to break the law, and that doesn’t sound like America to me. It sounds like a broken system.”

With those words, Ryan Denham made the case to the League of Women Voters (LWV) on Monday (Sept. 10) supporting the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA). To solidify his position, Denham pointed to Rick Rogers of Bella Vista, “who had both legs amputated, a paraplegic of 26 years. He takes oxycontin, and his doctor actually told him to use medical marijuana.”

Denham, who is the campaign director for Arkansans for Compassionate Care, continued: “I’ve worked on this campaign for over two years and have talked to hundreds of patients from all walks of life, who need medical marijuana. Some of these stories will make you cry if you were to listen to them. We’re talking about people with multiple sclerosis, cancer, AIDS, Tourette’s, Alzheimer’s — very debilitating medical conditions. A lot of times terminal medical conditions. Especially if somebody’s at the end of their life, I don’t see any reason at all why they shouldn’t be able to use medical marijuana.”

Denham is not alone. A recent Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll revealed that Arkansans are close to evenly divided on the initiative, with a slight advantage (47%) actually supporting it with 46% opposed and 7% undecided.

Should the AMMA pass, it would create “about 30” dispensaries, Denham told the LWV audience at Golden Corral on Monday, where patients could purchase “2.5 ounces of usable marijuana without the threat of arrest or prosecution.”

“In other areas, you’ll hear that there’s more dispensaries than Starbucks, and I think that’s unfortunate, and an abuse of the system,” Denham said. “But you just don’t find that with our law. It’s a very tightly regulated law that right off the bat has statewide regulations, and in many states, you do not see statewide regulation, even to this day. Ultimately, this is to allow sick patients to be protected.”

The Act does not allow dispensaries to be located within 500 feet of churches, schools, and youth centers.

Despite the support AMMA is picking up statewide, it does have its share of detractors. Joining Denham Monday were two: Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck and Mona Clemons from the River Valley Drug Free Coalition.

“Law enforcement is certainly sensitive to people with chronic pain, and we certainly don’t want to see people suffering. But from a law enforcement perspective, I also have to make something perfectly clear. There will be abuses of this,” Hollenbeck said. “It’s not going to be the good men and women, who truly need it. It’s going to be the same people, who right now are abusing prescription pain medications. My concern is bringing one more element into the community in which people, who don’t need it medically are going to get it somehow to circumvent the system.”

Hollenbeck called marijuana a “gateway drug” and said that “in 30 years of law enforcement, I’ve never met someone, who woke up one day and decided to get a needle with methamphetamine in it and shoot it in their arm without first utilizing marijuana.”

To that point, Denham disagreed, calling tobacco and alcohol “the real gateway drugs,” while pointing out that marijuana is “not physically addictive. Psychologically maybe, but your body does not experience withdrawals as an effect of marijuana use.”

Clemons still found it harmful, emphasizing the effect it would have on youth.

“Your brain is not fully developed until you are 20 years old,” Clemons said, adding that access issues would lead to “more kids not graduating” and “A-students going to D-students.”

Clemons continued: “It causes long lasting brain defects, especially in youth since their brains are not fully developed. This is the data. It’s not just something I’m saying. Kids are going to get access to it.”

Under AMMA, the dispensaries would operate as non-profit entities, managed by a salaried executive director. Denham insists that the state ID cards would be reserved for only sick people with legitimate needs.

“No hangnails or flat feet,” he added.

Additionally, Denham said prescribed users would be protected from the loss of employment or public housing, and that if a patient was unable to purchase the medicine directly, caretakers would be allowed to do so, but only after undergoing an extensive background check.

“This (Act) is very tightly regulated. You have to have one of the specific and debilitating medical conditions to even qualify. Your doctor has to recommend it on paper. And then the Arkansas Department of Health would issue you an ID card. So that’s going to protect you from arrest and prosecution,” Denham said.