Push for Legalizing Marijuana

by Ellis Eskew

Marijuana is legal in two states in the country and medical marijuana is legal in 20 states.
And while Alabama has had different versions of a marijuana bill, nothing has yet to pass.

Rep. Mike Ball says,  “it keeps catching steam. The more people that learn about what we’re trying to do, the support we get. I think our chances are very good.”

Loretta Nall ran for governor in 2006. She is a marijuana policy advocate and believes the drug should be completely legal.

“We shouldn’t be trying to nit pick it a part and we’ll legalize this part of it but not that part of it. One part may help this person and may not help that person with a different disorder. So legalize it recreationally, then the medical issue goes away because patients would be able to get it without fear of arrest,” said Nall.

Recently President Obama admitted to “The New Yorker” magazine that he, in fact ,smoked pot as a kid and it is no more dangerous than alcohol to the individual consumer.
And Nall agrees and says its not a threat to society as a whole.

 “You don’t see marijuana addicts. It’s not something that’s an addictive substance in terms of alcohol or harder drugs. I believe President Obama, the only thing that separates him from the young minorities in Alabama prison for smoking marijuana is that he didn’t get caught,” said Nall.

Whether it will ever be fully legal in Alabma, lawmakers pushing the bill say right now it’s about helping to save lives from life threatening illnesses.

“An Alabama citizen who has a child suffering from this shouldn’t have to move away from Alabama to avoid prosecution,” Rep. Ball.

However, some health experts argue that there is not enough clinical evidence that the therapeutic benefits of marijuana outweigh its health risks.