Here’s a doctor’s case for medical marijuana in Mississippi
More than 3.5 million patients are finding relief with medical marijuana in 34 other states.
Initiative 65, on the Nov. 3 ballot, establishes a well-regulated medical marijuana program for Mississippians.
Initiative 65 allows patients with specific conditions such as chronic pain, cancer, seizures, and ALS to explore this medicine in hopes of getting relief from their suffering.
Initiative 65 would create a strictly regulated program naming 22 qualifying medical conditions based on the positive experiences of other states with medical marijuana programs and the available medical research supporting medical marijuana as a treatment option. And it would require an in-person exam from a Mississippi physician. While medical marijuana isn’t a cure-all, physicians across the country agree that medical marijuana is a real option that can benefit patients.
Medical marijuana is a safe drug, with less addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms than narcotics, alcohol, nicotine, or even caffeine. It cannot be “overdosed,” does not lead to use of other drugs, and never causes a fatality. While there is currently a derivative of marijuana, Marinol, which has some use in nausea and appetite issues, it does not have the wide range of uses that medical marijuana offers.
Initiative 65 qualified for the ballot with the support of 228,000 Mississippians who signed petitions, but politicians put Alternative 65A on the ballot as a kill measure to defeat Initiative 65 and prevent a medical marijuana program from being created.
Opponents of Initiative 65 are spreading a lot of misinformation about Initiative 65.
Below are just a few facts about 65 and 65A, though you can see a full list at www.medicalmarijuana2020.com.
▪ Initiative 65 specifically names 22 qualifying medical conditions including cancer, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis, consistent with 34 other state programs. 65A does not name any and leaves it to politicians to determine which conditions would qualify, which may be severely limited.
▪ Initiative 65 creates an actual medical marijuana program with strict regulatory oversight from the Mississippi Department of Health. 65A allows politicians to decide how and when a program will work, which may be never.
▪ Initiative 65 specifically gives Mississippi physicians the authority to certify patients for medical marijuana. 65A vaguely substitutes “Health Practitioners.”
▪ Initiative 65 provides legal protection for patients, caregivers, and doctors. 65A does not provide such protections.
▪ Initiative 65 allows for caregivers to help disabled and homebound patients, and minors with qualifying medical conditions. 65A does not allow caregivers, so these patients would be excluded.
▪ Initiative 65 does not tax medical marijuana, since Mississippi does not tax other prescription medications. 65A allows politicians to tax sick patients’ medicine.
▪ Initiative 65 requires all revenue generated by the program to only support the costs of the program, so it is self-funded and doesn’t require tax dollars. 65A would require tax dollars to operate.
As a physician, I want patients and their doctors in Mississippi to have medical marijuana as a treatment option.
That’s why I voted yes for Initiative 65.
Philip L. Levin, MD, graduated from the University of Texas Medical School in 1978, followed by 42 years of emergency medicine. Board certified in both Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, he has worked here on the Gulf Coast for the past 17 years.