Mayor formed task force to consider allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in Saline, but who will be helped?

A lot of people don’t see any difference between the use of marijuana by the public at large and medical marijuana use.

Especially in this area, Hash Bash still comes to mind. Those not afraid to date themselves may cite Cheech and Chong. Proof of just how funny coverage of this subject matter continues to be in the main, the current issue of Detroit Metro Times parodies a popular self-help book series on its cover with the title, “Doobies for Dummies.” [1-6]

Sub-heads: “How to smoke, vape, dab, and otherwise get super duper high,” “Reefer for the Rest of Us!” and Pot is legal now — why not give it a try?” [7,8]

At the other extreme you’ll find the hour-long feature alternatively titled Tell Your Children, The Burning Question, and Reefer Madness originally released in 1936. Complete feature and trailer are both available free online. [9,10]

When originally produced, this was a sincere exploration of the evils of marijuana. Over time, it has become classic camp. High school kids get hooked on marijuana, which leads to wild behavior, accidents and ultimately death and murder. [11]

All of the above are ingredients of the thick soup in which those who might benefit from medical marijuana use too often get tragically lost.

According to the most recent statistics from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, approximately “20 percent of US adults had chronic pain and 8 percent had high-impact chronic pain — meaning pain that limited at least one major life activity ….” Focusing on the smaller of those two percentages, that works out to over 79,000 individuals in the State of Michigan. [12,13]

Over 1,700 residents in the City of Saline live with constant pain, and for 704 of them it is debilitating.

At December City Council meeting that followed voter approval of Proposal 1 legalizing recreational use of marijuana in this state last November, the decision was made to prohibit businesses from operating dispensories within this jurisdiction. At that point it appeared that recreational and medical were seen as intermingled. Complexities experienced by the City of Jackson Michigan in advancing development of medical marijuana licensing ordinances were mentioned to provide a frame of references in what Saline is facing on this road. [14-17]

In our own independent discussion with over a dozen leading hospitals, pain clinics, and practicing specialists, all effectively told Saline Journal that patients should avoid medical marijuana, insisting that it is dangerous, its effects largely unknown.

All were asked what, if any, scientific basis they were using as a basis for their assertions. Each confessed to having none.

Now in April, Saline Mayor Brian Marl recommended the formation of a “Saline Medical Marijuana Working-group” along with appointments for individuals to serve on it. Before it was voted upon, Council Member Janet Dillon asked that this item be moved from Consent Agenda to New Business. [18]

I just wanted to have this brought to the foreground, and not be part of the Consent Agenda and so that the public knows that there is going to be a work group formed at the request of the mayor to look at the medical marijuana issue and whether or not it is in the best issue of the city to pursue it.

I have mixed feelings about this work group, I’ll be honest. I do think that this is a task that should be left with Council. I think Council had felt as though it needed more information about medical marijuana and dispensaries in town before making a decision, and I’m hoping that the work group will bring all information forward and not just a recommendation.

Whether any individual Council Member comes out for or against this in the end, this is clearly growing into a serious discussion that has moved beyond cliché labels and scary pictures of drug smoke paraphernalia.

Ultimately, perhaps a significant number of those 704 City of Saline residents most intimately affected by this issue will be heard here as well.

References

1. Hash Bash (home page).
2. “Cheech Marin” IMDb.
3. “Tommy Chong” IMDb.
4. “Up in Smoke (1978)” IMDb.
5. Detroit Metro Times (home page).
6. For Dummies (home page).
7. “Marijuana and Lung Health” American Lung Association.
8. “Marijuana Dabbing: Risks of Wax Weed Dabs” Addiction Resource.
9. “Reefer Madness” Louis J Gasnier (1938) The Internet Archive.
10. “Reefer Madness Original Trailer – 1936 (Not the full film)” Propaganda Time (October 3, 2011) YouTube.
11. “Reefer Madness (Formerly titled: ‘Tell your Children’ and ‘The Burning Question’) (1936)” Berkeley Library, University of California.
12. “Defining the Prevalance of Chronic Pain in the United States” L DeBar, J Dahlhamer, C Helmick, R Kerns, S Mackey, R Nahin, L Porter, M Von Korff, and C Zelaya (September 14, 2018) US Department of Health and Human Services.
13. “Saline’s Demographics” Saline.
14. “Legal marijuana in Michigan: What you need to know” Kathleen Gray (November 7, 2018) Detroit Free Press.
15. “Saline City Council Meeting 12-3-2018” City of Saline (December 3, 2018) Vimeo.
16. “Saline City Council Meeting 12-17-2018” City of Saline (December 17, 2018) Vimeo.
17. “Medical Marijuana Licensing” City of Jackson Michigan.
18. “Saline City Council Meeting 4-15-2019” City of Saline (December 16, 2019) Vimeo.