Legalize marijuana for medical purposes
The plight of 14-year-old Isabel Jurado should touch the hearts of even the harshest critics of legalizing medical marijuana.
Isabel, also known as Izzy, suffers with Sanfilippo Syndrome, a rare genetic disease that halts normal development in children, preventing them from being able to walk, talk or even eat by themselves. Izzy, who lives in Rock Hill, also experiences dystonia, a movement disorder that causes painful and uncontrollable muscle contractions.
One of the few treatments that provides relief from this condition is CBD oil, a compound derived from marijuana that became legal in South Carolina in 2014. But her mother, Leslie Jurado, has helped lobby for a bill introduced in the state Legislature this month that would legalize the full marijuana component, including its active ingredient, THC, to cover other debilitating conditions.
The bill would give the Jurados legal access, through a doctor, to medical cannabis containing higher levels of THC.
“It would give us some hope,” Leslie Jurado said. “It would give us another option of something to try, and not feel like we are creating more problems in her.”
We agree with her and a growing number of South Carolinians that legalizing marijuana as a controlled substance for medical uses would be both a humane and sensible move. It’s long past time to put aside the stigma of marijuana as an illegal recreational drug and recognize that it has the potential to be an effective option for doctors, especially in the relief of pain.
Medical marijuana already is legal in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Advocates say it has proven to be extremely effective in treating chronic pain and a number of other ailments.
Critics say any use of medical marijuana could be a “stepping stone” to the use of other, more addictive substances. But advocates of medical pot note that it can serve as a safer alternative to prescription opioid painkillers.
A 2014 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states with medical marijuana laws saw a 25 percent reduction in opioid overdose deaths. While more research is needed to establish a direct connection, providing a non-addictive alternative to prescription painkillers seems like a logical step.
Past efforts to legalize medical marijuana in South Carolina have failed. But this year’s bill is steadily gaining support. A group of 10 legislators supporting the bill, including co-sponsor Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, D-Lancaster, recently held a news conference to tout the legislation, saying it includes safeguards that would prevent medical pot from being diverted to recreational use.
The idea is popular among South Carolina residents. A recent Winthrop poll indicated that 78 percent support legalizing medical marijuana. (Only 39 percent advocate pot for recreational use.)
Medical marijuana shows considerable promise in reducing chronic pain from a widespread number of causes, including cancer, spinal cord injury and disease, severe spasms, post-traumatic stress disorder, nausea, glaucoma, Parkinson’s and other debilitating ailments. The drug could prove useful in other applications if patients are allowed to use it.
It is nonsensical to oppose the use of medical marijuana in the midst of what amounts to a nationwide epidemic of opioid addiction. Why not provide patients with a safer option? And why continue to allow doctors to prescribe powerful, addictive opiates but deny them the authority to legally prescribe medical marijuana?
It is illogical and potentially heartless to deny patients with serious health problems a drug that could help mediate pain and discomfort with few, if any, side effects. We hope this is the year that lawmakers recognize the potential of medical marijuana and approve this bill.
This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Legalize marijuana for medical purposes."