Guest Column: Marijuana will bring chronic headaches to community

There are many alternatives for people to go to treat pain. Quite frankly, I do not want our community to go to pot.

The public has been told by the proponents of the medical marijuana industry that the addition of a cultivation facility in the Ontario area will provide more jobs and lower rates of Opioid overdose.

But what these same salesmen did not tell us is that according to a study of the states with legalized medical marijuana from 1999-2014, the National Institute of Health not only found lower rates of opioid overdose, they also found higher rates of recreational marijuana use and increased potency of illegal marijuana.

While 4Front Ventures distanced itself from recreational marijuana in last week’s public hearing, the company did contribute $28,500 to help Massachusetts legalize recreational marijuana in 2016.

Unfortunately state lawmakers ignored the will of the people in 2015, where Ohioans defeated a ballot measure to legalize both recreational and medical uses of marijuana by a resounding 65- to 34-percent margin. Instead the lawmakers legalized the so-called medical use of marijuana because of biased polls.

Nonetheless, just because our state legislature legalized medical marijuana, it does not mean that a patient is out of harm’s way. A report this Spring found that one in three approved new drugs by the Food and Drug Administration have unexpected and sometimes life threatening side effects or complications.

Medical marijuana is being used for over 20 different health conditions. Strikingly, a review of more than 10,700 scientific studies conducted by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine found verifiable benefits for only two disorders — chronic pain and the nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy.

Researchers in this review found strong support for the drug’s effectiveness in studies based on patients’ self-reported symptoms. But interestingly when the committee considered only studies based on physician reports, the evidence of any benefit nearly disappeared.

For what it’s worth, when the Sheriff, METRICH Commander, County Prosecutor, School Superintendent, and leading clergymen from seventy congregations throughout Richland County all oppose medical marijuana coming to Richland County, that should say something. Subsequently, both our state lawmakers opposed the legalization of medical marijuana and townships across Richland County have begun prohibiting medical marijuana.

After Loudonville Village Council voted to support medical marijuana without asking for input from the public, it drew the ire of citizens and Ashland County pastors with nearly one hundred letters sent opposing the Cannabis measure.

While a smoke signal emanates from Washington DC lobbyists ordering local and state governments to decriminalize marijuana, an authentic grassroots effort is coming from local authorities ignoring the cue. Columbus appears to have given in, but for our area, it may just be ….. close, but no cigar.

Benjamin Mutti, is spokesman for the Richland Community Family Coalition and a faith-based advocate for the advancement of Family values in culture.