Strib uses its Editorial Board and shows concern for opiate abuse:
Walz bill sends message to VA: Get going on medical marijuana research --- Veterans deserve the best chronic pain, PTSD treatment options.
By Editorial Board Star Tribune -- April 19, 2018 — 5:56pm
Despite legality that varies by state, an October 2017 survey by the American Legion found that nearly one in five veterans were “currently using cannabis to treat a medical condition” in lieu of opioids and were reporting better outcomes. It’s surprising the number isn’t higher given how many aging veterans or those returning from combat suffer from chronic pain — 50 percent and 60 percent, respectively, compared with 30 percent of Americans.
These data from one of the nation’s best-known veterans service organizations offer a compelling look at how an old and sometimes demonized drug could ease the suffering of those who have served. [...]
That’s why Congress needs to act without delay in passing a new bipartisan bill championed by Reps. Phil Roe, a Tennessee Republican, and Tim Walz, a Minnesota Democrat who is running for governor. The duo’s “VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act,” announced this week, would clarify the authority that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has to research marijuana’s role in treating veterans. “When a veteran tells me they’re finding relief, I believe them,” Walz said in an interview this week.
Would you expect veteran suffering and opioid worry to be a topic at those secret big-ticket-holder fundraisers that have marked the Pawlenty reincarnated Sam's Club visit to Minnesota from comfortable duties and compensation on the Potomac rather than the Mississippi?
Would you expect attention and approval from the FOX-Koch protege who astroturfed on the backs of veterans to get where he gets press coverage for being phoned from the White House on ways to dismantle best aspects of the VA?
What you can grasp is that the marijuana legalization snowball has not escaped Walz attention, and that he addresses it in a most cautious but legitimate and sincere way. Legalization worked in other states by removing criminal street dealing from control and generating needed tax revenue, so that having a proven track record is beyond dispute.
Those wanting to be Minnesota's Governor cannot sensibly duck the issue. Watch the Johnson-Pawlenty opinion shaping efforts soon to come. It will be charming to see those two gentlemen hone policies each advances as best for the people, yet in tune with their people. Or will each of them simply sling mud at Democrats?
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Studies are being done where legalization has created a significant pool of user data.