BUDTENDER INSIGHT ►
Breaking the Stigma
Senate Hopeful and MMJ Patient Understands the Need for Cannabis Reform by Alexandria Stith , contributing writer
In 1992 , then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton was having a successful run for the Presidency when he was famously asked a question that reverberated through the cannabis community : Have you ever done anything illegal . The intent of the question was to uncover Clinton ’ s use of marijuana . “ I experimented with marijuana a time or two , and I didn ’ t like it ,” he said before dropping the now infamous phrase , “ I didn ’ t inhale .”
Fourteen years later , a Senator from Chicago by the name of Barack Obama was asked the same question . His response , though quick and curt , showed just how much attitudes toward cannabis had changed in America . “ When I was a kid , I inhaled . That was the point .” The following year , he was elected President of the United States and made cannabis policy an open discussion across the political spectrum .
Although Missouri voters approved medical cannabis in November 2018 , work remains if cannabis is to be viewed in a more positive light , according to Democrat Senate hopeful Spencer Toder . In November , Toder hopes to win the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Roy Blunt .
I recently had the opportunity to visit with Toder , a life-long Missourian , who told me he didn ’ t have political ambitions until he became a father and realized just how much today ’ s political polarization was re-shaping basic values . “ I ’ m doing this as a father of a young son who is worried about what his future will look like ,” he said . “ Our society has never been more divided as far as wealth gaps , racial inequality , discrimination , and a rise in white nationalism . These are all things that I see and cannot ignore .”
Once a major criminal offense to be caught with a single cannabis cigarette , cannabis today has grown into a multi-billion-dollar business . Yet even as attitudes have changed and legal cannabis is finding a market for those seeking alternative medicine , marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug . According to a January 31 , 2022 article by Josh Merchant in the Kansas City Beacon , thousands of people in Missouri are arrested for possession each year . “ In 2020 , medical marijuana dispensaries in Missouri generated nearly $ 30 million in state tax revenue . That same year , 10,650 Missourians were arrested for marijuana possession , according to FBI crime data ,” Merchant reported .
The bigger picture is that cannabis , compared to prescription medication , is patient preferred . BMC , part of Springer Nature , published these findings : “ Emerging research indicates that the increased use of CaM ( cannabis as medicine ) has had a substitution effect on prescription drug use . In several cross-sectional surveys conducted in the USA and Canada , users of CaM report substituting cannabis for prescription drugs , of which opioid , anti-depressive , and anxiolytic drugs are the most prevalent . In fact , substitution of prescription drugs is the most common motive among users of medical cannabis , surpassing substitution rates for alcohol and illicit drugs .”
Indeed , the more pressing drug-related crisis in Missouri is fueled by opioids , not cannabis . In Missouri alone , according to the National Institutes of Health , “ drug overdose deaths involving opioids totaled 1,132 in 2018 ( a rate of 19.6 ) — an increase compared to the 952 ( a rate of 16.5 ) deaths in 2017 .” The World Health Organization reports , “ Providing resources that Missouri has obtained by taxing marijuana to make sure that people have access to safe care and are able to get people off opioids ensures that people can have better lives — because of cannabis .”
An advocate for medicinal cannabis , Democrat Senate candidate Spencer Toder proposed legislation , if elected , would also deliver strong incentives for states to commute sentences for those currently serving time for marijuana possession .
An advocate for medicinal cannabis , Toder sees another unacceptable gap . While cannabis for medical and recreational use is increasingly accepted and , in many states , decriminalized , too many people are serving prison sentences for cannabis convictions . “ We need to declassify cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance so we can have a chance to study and understand its true medical benefits ,” he says . He argues that legalizing cannabis opens avenues for medical research and creates economic opportunities by introducing new