As most everyone knows by now former Georgia governor, U.S. President and Sunday school teacher Jimmy Carter was recently diagnosed with cancer (melanoma) in his liver and brain, and his prognosis is not very good. In fact doctors initially told Mr. Carter he had about 3 weeks to live, but have since suggested an aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatment program that may be able to prolong his life. Because of this aggressive treatment Mr. Carter will probably experience some, if not most, of the many unfortunate side effects of poisoning one’s body on purpose, many of which can often be relieved with the use of medical marijuana. But there’s no way for him to legally obtain it in Georgia if he decides he wants it, even if he obtains certification from his doctor.

That’s because the Haleigh’s Hope Act, the legislation that legalized the possession of Low-THC oil in Georgia by certain patients, did not provide any legal way to grow the medicine or distribute the oil in Georgia. Instead lawmakers chose a “look the other way” approach by decriminalizing the oil for certain patients and leaving it up to them to find a way to travel out of state and illegally smuggle it back.

So as President Carter, who called for the decriminalization of marijuana in 1979 while still in office, undergoes round after round of radiation and chemotherapy let’s all hope he doesn’t need medical marijuana to treat nausea or weight loss. After a life of service to his fellow man it would be a terrible shame to force him to die a drug smuggler or a party to the crime of smuggling drugs.