Hearing on medical marijuana reform held at Pitt

For 2 1/2 hours Thursday, concerned citizens and local experts filled the auditorium on the ground floor of Parran Hall and argued both sides of the latest “green” bill to hit Pennsylvania’s state Legislature. For 2 1/2 hours Thursday, concerned citizens and local experts filled the auditorium on the ground floor of Parran Hall and argued both sides of the latest “green” bill to hit Pennsylvania’s state Legislature.

They didn’t discuss anything about the environment. Instead, the nearly 100  people who gathered at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health discussed medical marijuana reform, part of House Bill 1393. Under the bill, marijuana would be taxed and distributed at Compassion Centers run by the state Department of Health. Card holders could also grow their own marijuana — up to six plants at a time

The public hearing was the second of its kind in Pennsylvania. The testimonies highlighted many of the public’s hopes and concerns over bringing medical marijuana to the Keystone State.

State Reps. John Myers, D-Philadelphia, and Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny County, moderated the panel discussion. Speakers included former Allegheny County coroner Cyril Wecht and prominent Pittsburgh lawyer Patrick Nightingale, who heads Pittsburgh’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

“I’ve performed over 17,000 autopsies in my time as a pathologist and coroner,”said Wecht, who spoke first. “In all that time, I’ve never seen a single case related to marijuana as a cause of death. Personally, I never use drugs and don’t think they should be used recreationally, but marijuana can be used medically to great effect.”

Wecht said misunderstanding is the biggest factor holding medical marijuana back in our state, adding that the drug, when used correctly, can be a viable alternative to some of the powerful prescription pain killers currently on the market.

Appropriate conditions for medical marijuana use include cancer, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, he said. House Bill 1393 outlines similar conditions necessary for medical marijuana use.

“Percocet, Oxycodone, those are the drugs marijuana can safely replace,” Wecht said. “Those drugs are far more toxic and potentially fatal than marijuana. They kill regular people by overdose every day.”

Not all of the about a dozen speakers supported legalizing medical marijuana. Ron Owen, a member of Pennsylvania’s Parent Advisory Council, expressed concern that legalizing medical marijuana could lead to an increase in marijuana abuse by those without a medical need.

He shared an anecdote to warn against relaxing drug-related laws.

“I am here today as long-term Pennsylvania resident, a corporate executive, a community volunteer,” Owen said. “But mostly I’m here as a father. A father whose life was changed forever on Nov. 24, 2003, when my 23-year-old daughter Sarah died. She didn’t die a peaceful death. She died a painful and anguished death at the hands of the wicked and tenacious disease of addiction.”

Owen said he believes marijuana use in high school contributed to his daughter’s eventual drug-related death. He said marijuana opened the door for his daughter to use other drugs, though he did not say which ones.

A number of the other experts disputed Owen’s “gateway drug” theory, but they all admitted that medical marijuana use must be regulated as closely as the prescription painkillers it can potentially replace.

“I challenge any intelligent person in this room to say medical marijuana legislation would not lead to increased abuse,” he said. “It’s never been fully tested by the [Food and Drug Administration]. They classify it as having a high capacity for abuse and misuse.”

Owen’s last statement brought boos from many of the students and Pittsburghers in attendance. The crowd’s rebuke did not sit well with Myers, who shared an anecdote of his own.

Myers said his own son was kidnapped and likely killed by drug dealers in Philadelphia. His son has been missing for three years, and no arrests have been made in the case.

“I know what it’s like when drug violence tears a family apart, I can commiserate with that,” Myers said. “If there was a stronger war on drugs, my son might be alive. If drugs were legal my son might be alive. But that only makes it more clear that we need to find an immediate and palpable solution to drug problems. We need to find a way to regulate them effectively.”

One of the last speakers, retired narcotics detective Jack Cole, said an outright ban on marijuana only increases drug-related violence.

“Reforming these laws will save millions of dollars in public funds and free up law enforcement officers to go after violent criminals,” Cole said. “And our youth are less likely to think smoking a joint is cool if that’s what grandma does for her glaucoma.”