Catherine Lyles, a brain cancer survivor from Raleigh, spoke to the North Carolina House Rules Committee last month about how marijuana had saved her life. It relieved the nausea caused by harsh radiation treatments required to cure her terminal illness and enabled her to eat and nourish her body.
This woman, and thousands like her bravely fighting for their lives, will continue to be treated as criminals for at least the next year in North Carolina. Despite Lyles’ moving testimony, the committee shot down House Bill 84 — the Medical Cannabis Act — 20 minutes after the start of the public debate.
The bill was killed swiftly with a rare “unfavorable report,” which makes it and similar legislation ineligible for consideration until 2014. When asked by Raleigh news organization WRAL why such unorthodox measures were taken on a bill that has the support of six in 10 North Carolinians, Committee Vice Chairman Paul “Skip” Stam said it was because committee members were being “harassed” with phone calls and emails by supporters of the bill.
In the past, this sort of “harassment” has been called democracy. These days, lawmakers don’t want to hear from you. Stop bothering them, they don’t work for you anymore. Corporate donors are running the show now.
Nationally, the top five industries lobbying against marijuana decriminalization are alcoholic-beverage companies, police unions, prison-guard unions, private-prison corporations and the pharmaceutical industry.
It’s not hard to understand why they have a dog in this fight. A marijuana arrest is made every 42 seconds in the United States, which contributes billions annually in the form of federal grants, seized property and funds, and employee overtime to law enforcement and the prison industry. Last year, arrests for simple marijuana possession exceeded arrests for all violent crimes combined, making it these industries’ most abundant source of funding.
If marijuana were legally available for medical use, pharmaceutical giants would take a huge hit, as marijuana is proven to be safer and more versatile than the expensive prescription drugs they manufacture, and can be grown in the majority of backyards across America. The alcohol industry doesn’t want any type of leniency for marijuana because if it were ever legalized for recreational use, many party people would opt for the safer, hangover-free buzz cannabis provides instead of their alcoholic beverage of choice.
A quick look into the campaign finance records of a sample of legislators on the House Rules Committee shows these top five industries have plenty of money at play in North Carolina.
Wake County Republican Stam’s campaign finance records for 2012 haven’t been released, but he’s serving his seventh term, so there are six other campaigns to consider.
In 2010, the alcoholic beverage industry was a top 10 contributor. He has also received significant donations from eight different pharmaceutical companies, including Astrazeneca, Merck, Bayer, Eli Lilly and Novartis. The Southern States Police Benevolent Association, a prison guards’ union, was also a top contributor.
The chairman of the N.C. House Rules Committee, Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, has turned in his campaign finance report for 2012, and it shows large donations from pharmaceutical big wigs Pfizer, Merck, Abbott Laboratories and Eli Lilly. Astrazeneca has been a dependable source of money for him as well, contributing sums in 2004-10.
He also received thousands from the North Carolina Beer, Wine and Liquor Wholesale Association. His top campaign contributor was the N.C. Republican Party, a committee to which the alcoholic beverage industry contributed nearly $60,000 in 2012.
The other vice chairman of the House Rules Committee, Justin Burr, R-Stanly, received donations in 2012 from Pfizer and the North Carolina Beer, Wine and Liquor Wholesale Association, but he appears to have financed most of his campaign with earnings from his family business, Burr Bail Bonds. It doesn’t take a huge leap of logic to consider the financial stake a bail bondsman has in keeping a commonly used substance criminalized.
These three representatives are all Republican. However, the industries lobbying against marijuana reform appear to have contributed equal amounts of money to top Democratic candidates in the state. In spite of these contributions, the North Carolina Democratic Party has officially endorsed medical marijuana. Too bad they won’t have the opportunity in this legislative session to put their money where their mouth is.
While medical marijuana is an issue that has deserved a fair hearing for decades, the fact that it won’t get one this session isn’t what is most disturbing. No, what’s most disturbing is this is a tangible example of how the well-being of North Carolinians is sold to the highest bidder. A seven-term representative no longer even cares enough to pretend we have a say in the matter. He just told us to our collective face that we, as citizens, have no voice in government.
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This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2013.
Too many people want this bill too much, let’s shut it down!
Thank You for telling the TRUTH… They were paid VERY WELL to turn their backs on the sick and suffering. Just like the 1st LIE told by Harry Anslinger in 1937 that started cannabis prohibition they ALL are in it for PERSONAL GAIN. Its all about the MONEY… Lobbying by Big Corparations should be ILLEGAL ..NOT CANNABIS!!!
Keep calling! Republican Robert Brawley has been talking about the great value in cannabis, especially the extracts. Not over yet!
Same as the drug apes of Iowa, Agents of Lucifer ALL…
http://youtu.be/C2V77Ksjkrc
hear what reefer sadness sounds like from Iowa, the last Senate hearing that we had 3/4/13……passed committee only to be punted…
http://youtu.be/s1NSPjM03MM
We have the best government money can buy.
“private-prison corporations ” Doesn’t that send chills down your spine?
It would seem our state government has nothing to do with “by the people, for the people”, it all depends on who is the largest donors. Doesn’t this make all our state lawmakers merely nothing but corporate puppets? I, for one, must have cannabis, my very life depends on it, and I do not recognize Rep. Stam’s nor the state nor federal government’s authority to deny this to me. I was given this plant in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible by my Creators and no man, no government has the right to deny me what was given to me by the Creator. I am sick and tired of begging for compassion only to be ignored and called a “harasser”. Government should not operate at the whim of corporations. Our state is the hold out on compassion and common sense, for our lawmakers dance to a different tune than compassion. They dance the money dance.
Thank you for writing this article Erin.
A recent Public Policy Poll showed that 58% of North Carolinians support a doctor’s right to prescribe marijuana. Apparently that statistic was ignored as well when the Medical Cannabis Act was killed.
It’s disheartening to realize that our government is driven by profit motives first and that our North Carolina officials are moved to vote based on lobbying interests – not science, ethics or public support.
The good news is that marijuana law reform is inevitable as we’re seeing a wave of marijuana awareness wash over the country. As more people realize the plant is non-toxic (no recorded deaths from overdose), less addictive than caffeine (with no physical dependence – unlike caffeine) and is actually beneficial to our health (the National Cancer Institute recognizes that marijuana has cancer cell killing properties – search “marijuana” at Cancer.gov), the few decades of reefer madness propaganda are dying away.
Unfortunately North Carolina continually reveals itself to be more loyal to its misguided opinions about how to govern a thriving society than we would like to see. Still the push to get non-toxic medicine into the hands of the people who need it remains our objective at North Carolina NORML.
This is an exciting time to be a part of the push for marijuana and industrial hemp legalization. We just have quite a bit of work to do in this state.
Thank you for helping us fight the good fight!!
Jon Kennedy
NORML of North Carolina
NCNORML.org
This story illustrates the problem w/ our political system on a national level, not just locally & statewide: our government is controlled by money and those who have the most of it. We need campaign finance reform now!!! Take the money out of politics!!
Check out the new book on marijuana reform 2014 – the first book published about the events of last year. See Green: The First 12 Months of Modern American Marijuana Reform.