Police chiefs’ group opposes marijuana bill

The Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, with a collective membership of over 1,200 chief executives and command staff of law enforcement agencies throughout the state, opposes House Bill 1.

While we are sympathetic to the concerns and admire the compassion expressed by the bill’s chief sponsor, state Rep. Allen Peake, we believe adoption of this legislation is bad public policy, would be contrary to the views of the vast majority of the scientific and medical communities, and would violate federal law and undermine public confidence in the law.

The Food and Drug Administration has classified marijuana and all its products, including cannabinoid oil, as Class I controlled substances. Drugs included in this classification are those the FDA has determined to be inherently dangerous, have no currently accepted medical efficacy, lack accepted safety under medical supervision, and have high potential for abuse.

To date, there have been no scientifically validated studies indicating the use of such substances provides improvement in any medical condition that is sufficient to justify the known risks, which include psychosis. The FDA and the medical-scientific establishment continue to recognize all forms of marijuana as inherently dangerous substances.

The suggestion that the Department of Justice’s “Cole Memorandum” indicates the federal government has approved the use of medical marijuana is false and misleading. The department has no authority to “legalize” that which statutes, passed by Congress and signed into law by the chief executive, have prohibited.

The Cole Memorandum does not purport to “legalize” or even “turn a blind eye” to the enforcement of federal drug statutes applicable to marijuana. Rather, it only defines the Justice Department’s prosecutorial priorities and defers enforcement of prohibitions against the use of “medical marijuana” to the states. It grants no immunity to any person possessing, selling, distributing, transporting or cultivating marijuana for any purpose.

Moreover, Justice’s enforcement priorities are likely to change with the confirmation of a new attorney general. The leading candidate, Loretta Lynch, has testified it would be her policy “to continue enforcing the marijuana laws. ... As I have noted in cases in my own district, (marijauana use) brings with it not only organized crime activity, but great levels of violence.” Hence, reliance upon the Cole Memorandum is likely to lead to confrontations with federal drug enforcement officials in the future.

When the popularly named “Haleigh’s Hope” bill was first introduced in the Georgia Legislature, it applied to a very limited and narrow set of medical conditions. HB 1 has metastasized from its initial draft, more narrow in scope, to cover a far broader expanse of medical conditions for which there is no scientific basis to suggest cannabinoids may be effective treatments.

In this respect, Georgia’s legislation could be following the path traveled by other states such as Colorado, leading inevitably to the wholesale legalization of all uses, including recreational, of marijuana. It should be noted that after living under its recently enacted laws, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper called his state’s enactment of marijuana statutes “reckless.”

The compassion elicited by the sight of children afflicted with various neurological conditions causing uncontrollable seizures is admirable and heart-wrenching; these sights naturally trigger sympathetic emotions in any observer. However, emotion or good intentions cannot forgo or ignore reputable medical scientific research or the costly experiences in the erosion of the social fabric of other states.

Legalizing the use of marijuana in any form sends a dangerous and misleading message to the citizens of Georgia — that they may pick and choose which laws they will observe or violate without adverse consequence, inviting disrespect for all laws and resulting in chaos.

GACP agrees with the American Psychiatric Association that “medical treatment should be evidence-based and determined by professional standards of care; it should not be authorized by ballot initiatives.” Before the Legislature adopts any position on this law, let it fund a comprehensive study that incorporates scientifically valid research regarding medicinal marijuana, mindful of the societal consequences of such legislation.

Frank V. Rotondo is executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.