(Kansas City Star) COTTLEVILLE, Mo. | The little St. Charles County community of Cottleville is encouraging the state to legalize the use of medical marijuana.
Cottleville Mayor Don Yarber said Friday that the Board of Aldermen unanimously passed a resolution Thursday urging Missouri legislators to legalize access to medical marijuana for Missourians who have a doctor’s approval.
Yarber says he believes marijuana can bring some relief to certain terminally ill people or cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. He says the resolution doesn’t condone general marijuana use, and says people shouldn’t confuse the two issues.
A Missouri branch of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws says Columbia and Cliff Village have previously passed local legislation supporting medical marijuana.
NORMLizers, there is an old saying in reform, “Think Globally, Act Locally” that applies here. We get discouraged when we live in a pot-hating state and we may think passing something as sensible as medical marijuana statewide will be impossible.
That may be true now, but it doesn’t mean you have no place to focus your efforts. Local initiatives (in places that have them) and city councils are perfect places to plant the seed of reform. Find your local college town, especially if the college is its only reason for existence, and see if you can pass a lowest-law enforcement measure or even a symbolic measure like a resolution encouraging the state to pass medical marijuana. Start in the smaller towns; you need to gather less signatures and convince fewer voters.
It may feel only symbolic, but understand that symbols are powerful things. A state legislator who has towns in his district passing symbolic measures has to think twice about opposing them. A newspaper running a story about activism in your state has to mention them. Remember, it was local NORML activists in Massachusetts working hard for years to pass non-binding symbolic resolutions in city after city that set the stage for the passage of decriminalization statewide last year.
