Whenever you have a controversial issue floating around, there are bound to be some really weird and mischievous behavior revolving around it. For instance, a lot of Americans believed, and righteously so, that marijuana and Alabama can’t even be a part of the same sentence. A couple of years ago, that would make sense. But today, when the majority of Americans seem to be very supportive of marijuana, the Alabama perspective was bound to change as well. Supposedly, it has changed but we can’t really tell for sure because the Medical Association of the State of Alabama (MASA) took some effort to conduct a survey between doctors in order to get their take on medical marijuana.
The Results
So, you’re probably thinking – where’s the problem, right? The survey either shows support or it doesn’t. What’s the hold up? Well, ever since the survey was conducted, the general public has been denied to see the results, despite a bunch of emails from marijuana advocates demanding that the survey results be released. At the moment of writing this article, the state still hasn’t released the results. Obviously, the survey is probably in favor of medical marijuana advocates and “Alabama won’t have none of that weed business going’ around there”. MASA did release a statement though, saying that the results weren’t easily interpreted. “The data isn’t conclusive and that’s why it hasn’t been released”, said the spokesman of MASA, Niko Corley.
Medical Marijuana Bill
Last February, the House Health Committee was actually considering a medical marijuana bill, which would allow patients with certain medical problems to obtain medical marijuana as a method of treatment. The patient would be allowed to have up to 10 ounces of medical marijuana in order to alleviate symptoms of the disease. So, in November 2012, a hearing was held on the matter. Naturally, the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition promoted the measure, saying it will help a lot of people with debilitating conditions. Expectedly, on the other side, prosecutors and law enforcement were firmly against the measure with their main argument being the rise of criminal activity in case of medical marijuana legalization.
Unpublished Results
To be fair, nobody really expected the measure to pass. After all, this is Alabama we’re talking about here. By the time this green wave is over, Alabama is probably going be among the last states to legalize marijuana, albeit for medical or recreational purposes. In February, the bill has indeed been rejected. A state Senate seat candidate, Ron Crumpton, also believes the unpublished survey results go against the beliefs of medical marijuana opponents and that’s why the results have been withheld from the public. Because, if the survey was in favor of medical marijuana, then the opponents would have to make an entirely new list of arguments on why medical marijuana shouldn’t be legalized. In the meantime, a public survey showed that 58% of Americans support marijuana legalization. We will keep you posted on future updates regarding marijuana legalization in Alabama.
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