Steve Marshall, Alabama’s Attorney General, is against marijuana legislation and he’s making it loud and clear.
Marshall wrote a letter to state lawmakers this week saying that he opposes legislation for medical marijuana.
Alabama’s Medical Cannabis Commission has spent a year working to put together a compromise bill for the 2020 legislative session.
According to Marshall, this legislation would be “in direct conflict with duly enacted and clearly constitutional federal law.”
Marshall went on to draw parallels between marijuana use and the opioid crisis and
wrote about concerns about long term use, stating “As with opioids, we do not know what the outlook is for patients who use marijuana for extended lengths of time.”
Marshall ended the letter with, “As your partner in public service, I would view it as an abdication of my duty to you, and to the public, to stay silent on this matter.
While I do not question the motives or intentions of any member of the Legislature who does support legalization, the many unanswered questions and potential ramifications are undeniable. My fear is that while we fight in court for funding to remediate the opioid crisis, we will exacerbate that problem while creating a new one. We will work to provide access to recovery programs for those with opioid addiction, while the number of those who need help grows and even expands to those who develop a marijuana addiction.”
“We can’t pick and choose when we’re consistent with federal guidelines or not,” Melson said. “I just want to do what’s best for Alabama and our citizens and if that conflicts with federal law, I still think we ought to do it. We’re not reinventing the wheel here.”
