Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater in regarda to medical marijuana. Educated discussions and debates should continue as we move past the need to call it “pot.”

Rep. Brown, R-Jacksonville, sponsors HB66, and Rep. Todd, D-Birmingham, sponsors HB25. Each bill allows regulated medicinal marijuana to qualified patients who have a recommendation from a doctor.

Republicans and democrats can work together to pass comprehensive legislation. Medical conditions that marijuana can affect include cancer, HIV and AIDS, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and others. Traditional medicines are not always effective for these conditions; in many cases, not at all.

Disabled and terminally ill patients are prone to insufficient treatment and diminished quality of life. Appropriate marijuana use offers treatment with limited side-effects. Marijuana has fewer and less severe side-effects than many anti-pain and anti-anxiety medicines. Opiate-based drugs, for example, have serious side effects, addiction potential, risk of death and can lower quality of life for people already suffering.

There have been no fatalities directly associated with marijuana, and there are methods of intake other than smoking, including salves and tinctures. The bills specify cultivation and distribution, laboratory testing and monitored services to limit abuse.

Jobs would be created. Importantly, there would be legal protections for physicians and patients who choose legitimate means of health and recovery with marijuana.

Evan Haarbauer

Birmingham, Ala.