So-Called Medical Marijuana Bill Moving Fast in the Senate – Act Now
By Rev. Mark Creech
Christian Action League
June 1, 2022
Today, the Senate Rules Committee considered SB 711-NC Compassionate Care Act, a measure that would legalize smoked marijuana as medicine in North Carolina. The bill passed out of the committee and now heads to the full Senate floor for a vote on Thursday.
If passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Roy Cooper, the initiative will set up as many as 40 medical marijuana dispensaries across the state. Perhaps one may be coming to your city.
I want you to consider an alarming statement made by Drs. Samuel Wilkinson and Deepak Cyril D-Souza of the Yale School of Medicine in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):
“If marijuana is to be used for medical purposes, it should be subjected to the same evidence-based review and regulatory oversight as other medications prescribed by physicians. Potentially therapeutic compounds of marijuana should be purified and tested in randomized, double-blind, placebo, and active-controlled clinical trials. Toward this end, the federal government should actively support research examining marijuana’s potentially therapeutic compounds. These compounds should be approved by the FDA (not by popular vote or state legislature), produced according to good manufacturing practice standards, distributed by regulated pharmacies, and dispensed via a conventional and safe route of administration (such as oral pills or inhaled vaporization). Otherwise, states are essentially legalizing recreational marijuana but forcing physicians to act as gatekeepers for those who wish to obtain it.”
The former director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Richard Cowan said, “… once there’s medical access, if we continue to do what we have to do… then we’ll get full legalization.”
Smoked marijuana is not medicine by any modern standards, and new research shows each year that it is not a benign substance. In fact, for many, it’s proven to be very harmful. Recent research has found that those who use cannabis as medicine are at significant risk of developing a marijuana use disorder.
No matter what is argued to the contrary, this is the beginning of the legalization of recreational marijuana if this so-called medicinal cannabis bill passes the North Carolina General Assembly.
The Christian Action League has addressed this initiative in several Senate committees. We have made every effort to help lawmakers understand how misguided this proposal is for our state.
But now the rest is up to you!!!
Please get in touch with your N.C. State Senator immediately and ask him/her to VOTE NO on SB 711 – N.C. Compassionate Care Act.
If you don’t know who represents you in the N.C. Senate, click on this link to find out: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
Please don’t be cynical. Either by an email or a telephone call to your state Senator (preferably both), your voice can make a difference. Please act now.
Lastly, please pray!
God Bless,
Rev. Mark Creech
Executive Director
Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.
