Tuberville And Trump Clash Over New Marijuana Executive Order
Alabama Senior U.S. Senator and GOP Gubernatorial candidate Tommy Tuberville is in a rare disagreement with President Trump. A recent Presidential Executive Order reclassified marijuana from a Schedule I drug, which are drugs with no accepted medical use, to a Schedule III drug, which are determined to have less potential for abuse than drugs in Schedules I or II. Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD and ecstasy.
At the signing ceremony Trump told reporters, "Facts compel the federal government to recognize that marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications when carefully administered.”
Alabama Senators Split on Executive Order
Tuberville joined 22 Senate Republicans voicing concerns about the Trump order. In a letter composed by North Carolina Senator Ted Budd. In part, they said that marijuana is a harmful drug that would undermine an economic golden age. Despite research to the contrary, Tuberville and the other signees claim cannabis has no medical value.
“We should not be handing tax breaks to bad actors and foreign drug cartels to advertise a drug that will harm Americans.” Budd wrote in a press release about the group's opposition.
Alabama's Junior U.S. Senator Katie Britt, who is a regular backer of the president, along with 19 other republican senators, did not sign the letter opposing the reclassification.
The executive order does not legalize marijuana under federal law, and the proposed change requires federal regulatory approval.
How Does the Executive Order Impact Alabama?
After lengthy court battles, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission approved licenses recently for four companies: RJK Holdings, CCS of Alabama, GP6 Wellness and Yellowhammer Medical Dispensaries, potentially paving the way for up to 12 dispensaries to open next year.
Jennifer Boozer Stewart, communications director of the Alabama Cannabis Coalition, said her organization is not opposed to the reclassification, but said it should go further in providing access to marijuana as a medical option by de-classifying marijuana.
We want to have the right to use natural medicine just like we have the right to use vitamin C and bone broth and tallow cream on our faces without the government regulating it out of existence and handing it to giant corporations,” she wrote in a press release.
State law bans smokable cannabis and edibles. Instead, products must come as capsules, tablets, tinctures, gels or similar forms. Inhalers and topical creams are also allowed. Patients under 18 years of age are limited to low-THC options.
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