National advocates discuss legalization on medical marijuana in Nebraska

Two national advocates from both sides of the medical marijuana issue were able to sit down and voice their opinions.

They did see eye–to–eye on many topics but Luke Niforatos, who opposes the legalization, expressed his greatest concerns.

“The FDA has already found and a number of studies have, already found therapeutic benefits to components of the marijuana plant, but we can’t construe that to mean that now we should vote and legalize the entire raw plant for consumption and sales,” Niforatos said.

Another topic Niforatos was skeptical about was the idea of people voting to legalize the drug.

He made the point that the public has never voted on what drugs should make their way into pharmacies but that is the case for medical marijuana.

On the opposite side of the argument Matthew Schweich, who is for the legalization, said some of the drugs that have been allowed into pharmacies have become highly addictive and fatal, such as opioid.

His main point?

People who are in desperate need of relief are being limited due to law.

“Someone with epilepsy, someone who can’t get relief from their seizures from any of the available medications. Now, they’re getting some relief from CBD or whole plant,” Schweich said.

There were some things that the two agreed on, including that they would like to see more research regarding medical marijuana.

Regardless of their disagreements it was all very level headed and there were points that even the crowd was able to give their input.

Most people in the crowd said they would like to see medical marijuana legalized here in Nebraska.