To the Editor:
A form of Nancy Reagan’s “just say no” failed anti-drug campaign of the 1980s has just resurrected itself within the Mississippi Department of Public Health in regards to “all CBD products for purchase in the state.” CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is a natural chemical found in cannabis (hemp and marijuana) plants, along with THC, or tetrahyrocannabinol, Unlike THC, however, CBD is not psychoactive in the sense of producing a drug high. CBD is widely marketed in a variety of products, ranging from oils, creams, and gummies, which consumers purchase primarily for health and cosmetic reasons.
In a joint statement released on October 23, 2019 by the MS Department of Public Health and the MS Bureau of Narcotics, the people of Mississippi were informed that all CBD products are dangerous and should not be used. This announcement rests on an alleged claim that department testing found many products for sale that were contaminated with illegal narcotics and mislabeled as to contents. The announcement also asserts that no scientific evidence supports the use of these products.
Whatever the basis for their statement, attempting to scare citizens into shunning CBD products is an excellent example of trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted, and I would add long since bolted. Authoritarian “just say no” tactics designed to scare people away from CBD products are not just johnny come lately on the part of these departments, but johnny come ignorantly as well. CBD is already a growing million dollar industry.
A Gallup poll in August 2019 showed that 14% of adults in the U.S., or 1 in 7 persons, already use CBD oil for health reasons, regardless of scientific evidence about effectiveness. The reasons are varied: 40% for pain, 20% for anxiety, 11% for insomnia and sleep issues, 8% for arthritis, and 5% for stress, migraines, and headaches. Around 1% give it to their aging pets, In a state such as Mississippi, with notoriously poor health and rampant with dog lovers, I imagine the statistics are at least the same, if not perhaps greater.
Regarding the state finding contaminated products, most half way intelligent persons seeking a bona fide use of CBD for health reasons are not slinking off to shady gas station marketers or even perhaps vape shops for their purchases. These are the places MS investigators claim to have found spiking and or contamination, and most were vaping products. Reputable distributors of CBD products now operate in many cities in Mississippi (Tupelo, Jackson, Batesville, Oxford, Southhaven, Gulfport, e.g.) and aside from that, quality certified products are readily available online. Reputable CBD retailers have already labeled the Mississippi global condemnation of CBD as crazy.
Just as the original “just say no” campaign was a simplistic scare tactic which failed miserably to educate persons in a serious way about the use and misuse of drugs, the joint Departmental announcement likewise is a simplistic scare tactic lacking in educational substance. In refusing to acknowledge that thousands of people, if not millions, have been finding therapeutic value in legal CBD products for years, both departments sound like Rip Van Winkles just waking up to reality, but simultaneously seeking to deny it.
Unfortunately some public confusion exists about the differences between products derived from marijuana and those derived from hemp and the legal status of each. The cannabis family of plants includes both marijuana and hemp. It is the current legal sale and use of hemp derived products, CBD oil in particular, which the state agencies are attacking in blanket fashion. If the Department of Health and Bureau of Narcotics wanted to do something useful, they would educate the public about how to seek out quality products and provide literature being issued by health authorities instead of attempting to stomp their foot on sales of all products.
Incidentally, John Dowdy, Director of the MS Bureau of Narcotics, who joined in the joint condemnation statement, has also been trying to roadblock farmers in MS who are clamoring to enter the hemp cultivation market, as 47 states have already done. This agricultural market is expected to expand further in coming years, due to the versatility of hemp as a crop. Dowdy’s excuse is that police officers at a road stop wouldn’t be able to distinguish a bag of hemp from a bag of marijuana. I wonder if Dowdy has asked police officers in the 47 other states how frequently they’ve been challenged by this hemp and papers in the glove box problem and how they solved it.
Beverly E. Johnson
Kosciusko
