A group of district attorneys sent a letter to Alabama House members Wednesday, asking them to reject a medical marijuana bill ahead of an expected vote in the chamber.
The letter, signed by 23 of the state’s 42 district attorneys, calls marijuana a “gateway drug” and suggests that its use could increase the risk of developing schizophrenia, a link that most researchers have been hesitant to make.
“Marijuana is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the letter says. “Too many in the general public have been convinced that it is harmless. That is, perhaps, the biggest lie that is being perpetrated on the Alabama public today.”
The letter is not an official statement from the Alabama District Attorneys Association, which broadly opposes the legalization of marijuana but does not have a position on the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence. Walt Merrell, the Covington County District Attorney, is the lead signature on the letter; Merrell’s office said Wednesday he was in court and not immediately available for comment.
Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey and Randall Houston, the DA for Autauga and Elmore counties, did not sign a copy of the letter obtained by the Advertiser.
Melson and Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, who is carrying it in the House, dismissed the letter on Wednesday, saying it recycled old claims and did not reflect current science.
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“They’re lobbying to kill this bill they don’t like,” Ball said. “They’re lawyers, they’re not doctors. They’ve been looking at one side of this for some time and a lot of people have been trying to get them to look at the whole picture.”
Melson’s bill would allow the use of medical cannabis for more than a dozen medical conditions, including cancer, depression, sickle-cell anemia, and HIV/AIDS. Patients would need permission from doctors to use cannabis and would have to apply for a medical marijuana card, costing no more than $65. The bill would also create a state commission to regulate the growth and distribution of medical cannabis.
The legislation forbids smoking, vaping or using medical cannabis in baked products. The bill would allow its use as tablets, capsules, gelatins and vaporized oils. The bill forbids the use of cannabis for recreational purposes.
The 23 DAs express support for a UAB study on the impact of cannabidiol (CBD) individuals suffering seizures and notes the existence of marinol, an FDA-approved medication that uses a synthetic form of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
“Study after study has demonstrated that every medicinal property that might be contained within the cannabis plant can be extracted,” the letter says. “That said, there is no need to ingest plant marijuana or THC extract, in any form other than what is already being produced as a pharmaceutical.”
The letter also invokes the state of Colorado, which has had recreational marijuana since 2012. Other opponents of medical cannabis have raised that example, but Melson’s bill specifically forbids recreational use.
Melson and Ball also criticized the DAs for citing Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter, as a source for their claims for the link between schizophrenia and marijuana. Berenson’s 2019 book, Tell Your Children, made the claim but received criticism for going beyond what research said. Though there is broad acceptance that marijuana use correlates with mental illness, it is much less certain whether there is a link.
“It’s difficult for scientists to untangle the link between cannabis use and schizophrenia and conclude if cannabis use causes the development of schizophrenia, or, alternatively, if schizophrenia may lead people to use cannabis,” the website for the National Academy of Medicine says. “It’s possible that cannabis relieves some symptoms of schizophrenia … so people who tend toward schizophrenia or psychosis might use cannabis because they find that it helps.”
Berenson over the last year has made several erroneous claims about the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on the use of masks and the effectiveness of vaccines. The Atlantic earlier this month called him “the Secretariat of being wrong.”
House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, has committed to holding a floor vote on Melson’s bill. Melson and Ball were cautiously optimistic about their chances Wednesday.
“When they call the roll, that’s when I’ll be convinced there’s enough votes,” Melson said.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com.
