Tom Corbett and grandson Liam

Gov. Tom Corbett, wife Susan, and grandson Liam enter the state GOP winter endorsement meeting in Hershey, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014.

(AP Photo/Chris Knight)

Gov. Tom Corbett would be too distraught to reconsider his opposition to legalizing medical marijuana if his two-year-old grandson were stricken with debilitating seizures and doctors said cannabis was the only treatment that would provide relief.

Asked Friday night if he would reconsider his aversion to medical marijuana should his healthy grandson Liam need pot to treat a medical condition, the incumbent Republican governor said the heart-wrenching scenario would preclude him from making a rational decision.

"Then I wouldn't be in the position to make that decision because it would become emotional for me," Corbett told reporters after addressing the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in East Pennsboro Twp. "We have laws that have been passed. If we believe the laws should be changed, then let's change them."

The governor, who regularly dotes on his grandson, acknowledged being moved by testimony in the state legislature from families citing examples of young children who suffer crippling seizures and have been told by doctors that medical marijuana is the only remedy.

But he said any change in drug laws should be done on the federal level, not individually by the states.

“The president has the opportunity,” Corbett said of Barack Obama. “We all know he’s admitted to smoking pot in the past. He’s had the opportunity to go and tell the FDA, try and direct them to do that. Has he done that? That’s the question you all [the news media] should be asking.”

However, it's not a question asked only by reporters.

An April 2 picture of Corbett reading to his grandson on the governor's Facebook page includes three comments calling on the governor to legalize medical marijuana.

A woman identifying herself as Dana Ulrich, the Berks County legalization activist who says her 6-year-old daughter Lorelei needs medical marijuana to stave off as many as 700 disabling epileptic seizures a day, said Corbett should consider her situation as a grandfather.



“He is blessed to have a healthy grandchild,” Ulrich wrote in the picture comment section. “Governor Corbett, what would you do if Liam had a condition that has failed every pharmaceutical but medical cannabis could help? You would fight for it, just like I'm doing for my Lorelei. 500-700 seizures every single day!! Please give my Lorelei a chance at life...I'm not too proud to beg.”

This screen shot from Gov. Tom Corbett's Facebook page shows him pictured with grandson Liam and Berks County medical marijuana activist Dana Ulrich pleading with the governor to legalize pot to help her 6-year-old daughter who suffers form 500-700 seizures each day.

Ulrick then links to her "Legalize for Lorelei" Facebook page and implores the governor again: "Please be a hero for my baby girl."

Another woman identified as Amy Audino Houk, who's Facebook page says she once lived in New Castle, Pa., wrote that she moved to Colorado - where pot became legal this year - so her ailing son could be treated with cannabis.

“I had to take my 6 year old epileptic son and move to Colorado to gain access to a non-psychoactive strain of medical marijuana oil, he no longer gets to spend time with any of his family other than me,” Houk wrote in the picture comment section. “My husband and the rest of our family is back in PA, the place I thought I'd always call home. Would you wait for access if Liam was having 150 seizures each day?”

And a third woman, who identified herself as Paula Diamond, wrote of her 20-year-old son pained daily by Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Dysautonomia.

“I hope and pray you will re-consider your position on MMJ [medical marijuana], not only for my son, but for all the children and adults suffering in the state of Pennsylvania with chronic pain, seizures, PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder], dementia, cancer, MS [Multiple Sclerosis] , and so many other serious, chronic illnesses,” Diamond wrote. “The compassionate and just thing is to support those who are suffering and afford them relief.”

Polls have shown a massive swing in public opinion toward legalizing medicinal marijuana in recent years. A Quinnipiac Poll last month found 85 percent of Pennsylvanians favor legalization.

Despite his current opposition, the governor seemed to leave the door open to legalization should federal laws change.

“When I see the federal government legalize it because it’s a federal law, when I see the FDA do some testing, then I think we can start considering it,” Corbett said. “Until then, no.”

UPDATED: This article has been updated to include Facebook appeals to the governor to legalize medical marijuana.

