A republican state senator from Kentucky told reporters Wednesday that he smoked marijuana instead of taking prescription pain killers during a battle with colon cancer seven years ago.

During a news conference where he spoke out in support of House Bill 136, a bill to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky, Senator Dan Seum (R- Fairdale) told those in attendance about his use of cannabis to relieve pain and nausea while undergoing cancer treatment as well as his experience with it in his youth. “They gave me that nice bottle of OxyContin,” Sen Seum recalled while outlining his plan to end cannabis prohibition in the Bluegrass State. “I threw it in the garbage can and went home and smoked a joint.”

Not his first rodeo

Seum also took the time to reminisce about the good old days of his youth, where scoring a sack of Columbia Gold meant you and your friends were going to have a great weekend and it wasn’t a very big deal because “nobody has died from it”.



Sometimes there is this little thing called unjust law, and that’s what we’ve got when we put this thing as a Schedule I.

In addition to his support for HB 136, Sen. Seum has also filed Senate Bill 80, which would create a robust recreational cannabis program in Kentucky and include regulations for possessing, growing, processing, transferring, selling and consuming cannabis. SB 80 would also provide for excise and sales tax on recreational marijuana.

Sen. Seum said he’s not afraid to admit to breaking the law while using marijuana and hopes he can continue to use his experience to promote the medical benefits of cannabis.

Kentucky Medical Marijuana News Conference