SENATOR NAMED “ELECTED OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR” BY ADVOCACY GROUP
In case you missed it, the medical marijuana debate at the S.C. State House – which should be a simple, straightforward, common sense “aye” vote – has devolved into chaos.
As a result, a bill that ought to be profoundly non-controversial – which would be profoundly beneficial to people suffering from a wide variety of chronic ailments – has been stopped in its tracks.
That’s a damn shame … and to be clear, there’s no shortage of blame to go around (including some ill-advised moves by certain pro-pot advocates).
One person who deserves credit, though, is S.C. Senator Tom Davis.
For years, Davis has been a consistent advocate in support of this issue. Not only that, he was one of the first lawmakers in the S.C. General Assembly to have the courage to (respectfully) call out law enforcement leaders for their ill-conceived advocacy against this legislation.
While others have played games with this issue, Davis has been one of the few true leaders – along with S.C. Reps. Mandy Powers Norrell, Peter McCoy and Eric Bedingfield.
This week, Davis was honored for his efforts by Americans for Safe Access. That’s a national group which is dedicated to “advancing legal medical marijuana therapeutics and research.”
They’re going to honor him with their “elected official of the year” award next month in Washington D.C.
Good …
We support this legislation. Wholeheartedly. In fact we have repeatedly referred to the legalization of medical marijuana in the past as a “moral imperative.”
Davis has been the conscience of this movement from the beginning – forcing his fellow lawmakers to confront their ongoing (and unfeeling) failure to move this bill forward.
Marijuana legalization across the board – medical and recreational – is enjoying growing popular (and electoral) support. It could also be a boon to taxpayers. Unfortunately, South Carolina lawmakers rejected this common sense reform during the 2015-2016 legislative session – and appear poised to do the same thing in 2017.
Again .. that’s inexcusable.
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