Having been legalized for recreational use by Washington and Colorado and now legal for medicinal use in 20 states – possibly 21 if N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has his way – marijuana may get a new look in Georgia.
Josh McKoon, a Columbus Republican, has proposed that Georgia open up something of an investigation on the benefits of medicinal uses for marijuana, the AJC reports. His study will look to discover whether Georgia’s limited 1980s-era law, allowing the use of weed for the treatment of glaucoma and cancer, should be expanded to include use for other things.
While McKoon says he is not open to legalized recreational use and is not proposing a law to legalize marijuana in the state, he is interested in some possible benefits the plant may offer.
“There’s not a piece of legislation. What I’m interested in doing is having a hearing so we can bring some medical experts forward to tell us, one way or the other,” McKoon told the paper.
McKoon’s interest in marijuana was sparked by a bit of an unlikely source. The congressman said it was the CNN documentary “Weed,” from Emory neurosurgeon and journalist Sonjay Gupta, that first opened him up to exploring the possibilities of marijuana’s beneficial qualities.
“I see [Gupta] as a sober-minded person,” McKoon said. “That got my attention.”
The 45-minute report is something of a response to “Reefer Madness,” the 1930s cult classic that many say demonized the drug and helped put marijuana on the federal list of banned substances.
Gupta showed how marijuana – or its refined ingredients – could help control some seizures in children and now argues that researchers have overemphasized marijuana’s dangers, and ignored its potential benefits.
“I’ve had constituents who have children with seizure disorder. I’ve had constituents who are undergoing chemotherapy treatments who say it would be helpful for pain,” McKoon said. “I just want to separate the facts from fiction. You could have a handful of these anecdotal stories without really knowing for sure.”
For the moment, leaders in the state Capitol appear willing to let McKoon proceed with the hearings, which the senator hopes to hold during the 90-day legislative session that begins Monday.
“I want to look at the science. I want to look at the medicine,” House Speaker David Ralston said last week. Senate President pro tem David Shafer, R-Duluth also seemed open to exploring the science.
“I have never been an advocate for liberalizing marijuana laws, but I am open to our studying potential medical applications,” Shafer said in an emailed statement. “It is unfortunate that some states have clouded the issue by using a medical justification to effectively legalize recreational use.”
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