Republican Lawmaker Teams With Mormon Moms For Legal Cannabis Oil…In Utah

If anyone out there still doubts that marijuana legalization is gaining some serious traction, feast your eyes on this headline: “Utah Republican Lawmaker, Mormon Moms Fight For Cannabis Oil For Epileptic Kids”

I know, right? It’s a sentence that normally would jump out as obvious fiction. A Utah Republican, State Rep. Gage Froerer (R-Huntsville), teamed up with a group of Mormon mothers would historically have been on the other side of this debate, seeking to keep marijuana in the shadows. Instead, they founded Hope 4 Children With Epilepsy.

The more telling piece of this story is what drove them to take such an about-face regarding cannabis. The fact that Mormon mothers are one of the leading voices in this cannabis campaign is very revealing. The love for their children will drive a mother to do whatever is humanly possible to keep them safe and happy. Look at the fine print here. Cannabis is so safe and effective that it has inspired a group of conservative Mormon mothers (from Utah) to form a coalition, get the help of a lawmaker, and take this fight public. One of these moms stated that she would have thought giving cannabis to children was pure lunacy, but after hearing about the success of Charlotte Figi and others, she says, “we’re not expecting this to be any kind of miracle cure, but the results thus far with the children have been amazing with very little side effects. It’s just something that needs to be available.”

This is a fight about which I am happy to spread the word, and I hope you will too. Hope 4 Children has an uphill battle ahead of them. According to one mom, “politicians here have promised  to never let medical marijuana in the state.” The coalition is trying to distance itself from the MMJ industry, and simply wants cannabis oil to be available in the state. But I suspect that pulling one item out of the MMJ market and trying to make it legal is just the “toe in the door” that those aforementioned prohibitionist politicians are trying to squelch.

It’s a step in the right direction. I would also urge these moms to keep on pushing for a functional MMJ industry in Utah. Realizing that cannabis can safely and effectively help their children with one condition, who has the right to deny others the chance to get relief from their pain?

Here is yet one more opportunity for the feds to finally do the right thing and reschedule cannabis. Cigarettes and alcohol remain wholly legal and protected industries, but I dare you to find one mother (in Utah or elsewhere) that is rallying for “Beer for Babies” or starting a “Nicotine for Newborns” campaign. Sometimes I find myself choking on their blatant and harmful hypocrisy.

To the naysayers: at what point does railing against cannabis just make you look ignorant and cruel?

Any Utah Weedists out there, please support these moms. They made a conscious choice to stay in Utah (over moving to neighboring Colorado) and fight the hard fight to help others with similar plights. That is honorable and deserves our help.