Scott Perry says he supports the use of medical marijuana

PA Rep Scott Perry R-Dillsburg holds a atown halla meeting at the Lemoyne borough hall. Supporters of Anna Knecht, an local 11-year-old with seizures, show up with yellow balloons to show they are advocating legalization of medical marijuana, and to lobby for Perry's support. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

(Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com)

(*The byline on this story has been changed - this piece represents the consensual opinion of the PennLive Editorial Board.)

Their stories are heartbreaking.

There's Deena Kenney, whose 17-year-old son was born with a disease that causes brain damage and debilitating seizures. It it doesn't kill him first, he's guaranteed to never live a normal life.

There's Christine Brann of Derry Township, whose son is similarly afflicted, and must take a combination of three medications to control a severe form of epilepsy.

Their common hope? A nonaddictive oil, derived from the marijuana plant that has given some measure of peace to parents and children in other states who are suffering the same kind of pain.

Some of these parents, known as ‘medical refugees’ have broken up their families and fled to Colorado, where the substance is legal, in the hope of relieving their children’s suffering.

"It's unfathomable to me that children in one state are afforded a different standard of treatment," than children in another state, Brann told the Senate Law & Justice Committee during a hearing earlier this year. "I beg you to stop this disparate treatment."

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. It is past time for Pennsylvania to join their company.

From fringe to mainstream

No longer the province of the fringe, conservative lawmakers, including state Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, and U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-4th District, have added their influential voices to those calling for the legalization of medical marijuana.

Folmer, along with state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, is sponsoring legislation that would legalize medical marijuana in the state.

"I think it's the right thing to do," Perry told constituents at a town hall last month. "I am a proponent of medical marijuana."

Let's be clear, legalizing medical marijuana isn't about someone lighting up a joint or taking a puff on a bong. Rather, they will ingest a remedy composed of Cannabidiol, a non-hallucinogenic component of marijuana, and olive oil.

There is evidence to suggest that the treatment is effective — most famously in the case of Charlotte Figi, a Colorado toddler whose seizures, brought on by a debilitating form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome (the same disease that afflicts Brann's son).

At her worst, Charlotte suffered from 300 grand map seizures a week, CNN reported, was hospitalized repeatedly, and her cognitive abilities degenerated.

Allowed access to the oil remedy that now bears her name — "Charlotte's Web," her symptoms all but vanished.

According to CNN, Charlotte, who is now 6, is "thriving." Her seizures only happen two to three times in her month — almost solely in her sleep. She is now not only walking, but can ride a bicycle. She feeds herself and is talking "more and more each day," CNN reported.

The Politics

While legislative will appears to be building toward a consensus — and granted there are still some lawmakers with deep reservations about medical marijuana — a significant obstacle remains in the form of Gov. Tom Corbett, who reiterated his opposition to legalization as recently as last week.

Speaking to reporters after an appearance at the annual Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in East Pennsboro Twp., Corbett said any change in drug laws should be done at the federal level, not by individual states.

But this year is an election year, and Corbett faces a tough climb to a second term. Three of the four Democrats seeking to replace him — York businessman Tom Wolf, former Environmental Protection Secretary Katie McGinty and U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz — all favor legalizing medical marijuana as well as decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug.

The fourth candidate, two-term state Treasurer Rob McCord, has stopped short of legalization, calling instead for an extensive policy debate before moving ahead with any legislation.

Public Opinion

But as was the case with banning handheld cell phone use by drivers and same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization is an issue where the public is well ahead of policymakers.

And that trend toward legalization of both medical and recreational pot is part of a general cultural shift that we've seen on a variety of issues, from guns to gay marriage," Franklin & Marshall pollster and political analyst G. Terry Madonna a said earlier this year.

Medical Opinion

While public opinion is moving toward unanimity, medical opinion, at least in Pennsylvania, is still split.

Lee Harris, a neurologist from Abington, Montgomery County, said earlier this year that doctors should be allowed to prescribe medical marijuana to patients who can't find relief anywhere else. He said there is sufficient research to show the merits of medical marijuana in such cases, and that benefits outweigh potential side effects.

Erik Rupard, a Reading-based oncologist, cited a need for more research, arguing that available research is "generally scant and not very well done."

Rupard stressed a need for research concerning how the long list of marijuana's active ingredients impact specific medical conditions, and shedding light on things such as correct doses, how the drug is consumed by the patients, and side effects.

But the case of Charlotte Figi provides compelling evidence that the nonaddictive treatment does work and provides some relief from the horrific suffering parents such as Brann and Kenney have described in such gut-wrenching detail.

And while there is some justification to the caution that experts such as Rupard urge, an argument that Montgomery County lawmaker Leach made to his colleagues during that January hearing still resonates: The longer lawmakers dally on this issue, the longer some very sick children will have to suffer.

The answer is clear — lawmakers should approve, and Corbett should sign, a bill legalizing medical marijuana at the first opportunity.