HARRISBURG – With a new governor in the state, medical marijuana legislation may be successfully passed in 2015. Last year’s bill passed the Senate in September, but did not move to the House, where Republican leadership was hesitant to pass it. Now, the new House Republican leader, Dave Reed (R-62nd, Blairsville) supports medical marijuana along with new Governor Tom Wolf.
State representative Lynda Schlegel-Culver (R-108th,Sunbury) says there is a good argument for its passage, “We have been using it medicinally for 2,000 years. This has merit. I think we definitely need to look at it. If we can help somebody overcome an illness or help them with their daily life, without endangering their welfare or having less impacts, it’s our job to look at it.’
However, she says they are still doing their research, “I think that what makes us most uncomfortable is we are not physicians. I don’t think we have any physicians down there. We are not pharmacists and we are not nurses. It’s not a field we are super comfortable with. A lot of times we say, ‘why isn’t the FDA doing this’ and ‘why are we doing this’.”
So far, 23 states and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana for medical use. You can hear more from Lynda Schlegel-Culver on medical marijuana legislation and other topics from Thursday’s On The Mark program online at www.wkok.com. (Ali Stevens)