by RANDY PAGE
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As South Carolina again considers medical marijuana legalization, Palmetto Family Alliance urges lawmakers and citizens to consider the significant health risks and the slippery slope toward recreational marijuana use. While proponents promote cannabis as a therapeutic solution, prevailing evidence reveals serious dangers—to individual and public health as well as the social fabric of our state. Legalizing medical marijuana is not a benign policy choice; it carries profound consequences that could reshape our communities for the worse.
While we empathize with those seeking relief from medical conditions, the risks associated with marijuana, both to individual health and the fabric of our communities, outweigh the purported benefits.
One cannot ignore the health risks of marijuana use are well-documented and cannot be ignored. Regular cannabis use is related to a range of adverse effects, particularly on mental and physical health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention documents that marijuana directly affects brain health, heart health, lung health and mental health.
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A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed states that, “due to legalization, today’s pot is far more potent than it was decades ago. Research links marijuana use, especially in young adulthood, to IQ loss, schizophrenia, heart attacks, strokes and lung disease.”
Psychosis, schizophrenia, and other mental health disorders are especially concerning for adolescents, whose developing brains are vulnerable to cannabis’s psychoactive effects. One study found “that those who had tried cannabis by age 18 were 2.4 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia than those who had not, and the risk of this diagnosis increased with the frequency of cannabis use.”
According to the American Heart Association, cannabis use is connected to an increase in heart attack and stroke risk. These findings challenge the narrative that marijuana is a safe therapeutic option, particularly when smoked, as it exposes users to carcinogens like those in tobacco.
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Beyond health concerns, medical marijuana legalization often serves as a trojan horse for recreational use, undermining public safety and social order. Evidence from states like Colorado and Washington shows that medical marijuana programs frequently pave the way for recreational legalization. Anyone who has studied this issue knows that it just takes one more vote of the state legislature to flip the switch and transition from medical to recreational marijuana.
In states with medical and recreational marijuana, legal access has increased the risk of unintended pediatric exposures. This trajectory is alarming for South Carolina, where relaxed policies could fuel a surge in youth access and addiction.
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The argument for medical marijuana often hinges on its potential benefits, such as pain relief or nausea control. However, the evidence is inconclusive, and safer alternatives exist. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved medications like Marinol and Cesamet, which deliver controlled doses of cannabinoids without the risks of smoking or inconsistent potency. Bypassing rigorous FDA approval for medical marijuana sets a dangerous precedent. South Carolina should prioritize these regulated options over a plant-based product with variable THC levels and unproven long-term safety.
Palmetto Family believes South Carolina must protect its citizens—especially our youth—from the risks of marijuana. Legalization not only endangers health but also normalizes a drug that leads to increased recreational use, higher addiction rates, and social costs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration underscores that 1 in 10 cannabis users develop addiction, with higher rates among adolescents, and modern marijuana’s THC potency is three times more potent than decades ago, amplifying risks.
We urge lawmakers to resist the push for medical marijuana as proposed in S. 53 and instead invest in research for safe, regulated alternatives. Our state’s health and future depend on it.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Randy Page serves as executive vice president of Palmetto Family Alliance. He also serves on the board of directors at The Charter Institute at Erskine. Page previously served as chief of staff at Bob Jones University and in senior staff roles for Gov. David Beasley, Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler, and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.
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11 comments
I respectfully disagree with the article’s focus on the dangers of medicinal marijuana. While I share your concern for community well-being, singling out marijuana ignores the greater harms caused by legal substances like alcohol and prescription opioids, which have fueled local tragedies.
For instance, the Murdaugh case, widely, involved prescription opioid abuse, not marijuana. Similarly, former Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright’s recent federal guilty plea for fraud and obtaining opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone for personal use—through embezzling public funds and diverting drug take-back programs—points to the real risks of harder drugs, not cannabis. These examples show that alternatives to medicinal marijuana often pose bigger risks.
Compare this to alcohol, which the CDC links to over 140,000 U.S. deaths yearly from drunk driving, liver disease, and violence. Marijuana, by contrast, has no recorded overdose deaths and helps patients manage pain, seizures, and anxiety with fewer side effects than many prescription drugs. A 2016 Health Affairs study found marijuana use reduced opioid dependency by up to 64% in chronic pain patients.
If the goal is to protect family values, as the article suggests, we should address all harmful substances consistently, not just marijuana. Focusing only on cannabis overlooks its medical benefits and diverts attention from more pressing issues like alcohol and opioid abuse.
I encourage a balanced discussion based on evidence and our community’s experiences. Let’s promote education and sensible regulation instead of targeting medicinal marijuana alone.
Well said !!
Other things Randy (seriously) believes:
The earth is @ 5,000 years old
The bible is a literal document
Women are subservient
Gay equals hell
Dinosaurs and the fossil record are a myth
Jews, catholics, and methodists are going to hell
Evolution is an evil myth
It doesnt matter how incompentent a home school or charter school is, it beats the gubmint school.
Randy you ignorant slut, shut the fuck up. Nobody cares what you think about weed. You can’t disregard science and data at every turn and then point to it you proselytizing, self loathing, closeted freak show.
How long till your CSAM conviction?
You sound like a miserable person who would hopefully benefit from a high dosage of medical marijuana. Perhaps even a gentle boop on the nose. Cheer up, it’s not that serious.
rEeFeR mAdNeSs! This is 2025, not 1935.
“Family” Alliance, Bob Jones U…for some reason some people with that kind of holier than thou background end up sketchy af.
I would appreciate FITSNews would run an op-ed with an author in support of the legislation that would grant access to suffering South Carolinians access to lab tested medical cannabis. Currently, you can go into Total Wine and purchase hemp derived THC products. The medical cannabis bill(s) Sen. Tom Davis (R) has submitted over the past decade are the most conservative restrictive medical bill in the nation. Sen. Davis has made compromise after compromise to take all protections possible for the citizens of our state.
Currently, 40 states in the nation have passed comprehensive medical cannabis programs. These states include Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Kentucky, Utah, Texas, South and North Dakota. None of those states have become legalization states. We know by persistent polling that if South Carolina had the ballot initiative process, we would have granted our citizens this liberty of making their own decision (working with their doctor) years ago.
The author states that he sympathized with patients that are not getting results with current medicines. He states he wants more research into solving these illnesses. He failed to provide any details of legislation that his organization has supported to provide the funds needed for such research (a very expensive process). In the end, if one’s faith would lead a person to not take extracts from a plant the creator brought unto this world, no one is forcing them to do so. We have had many spirited debates in the time since COVID first appeared as to the role of government in making healthcare decisions for individuals. After a decade of debate on medical cannabis access for seriously ill people, we have passed the time to pass this sensible conservative piece of legislation.
It is called “class”, Nelson Hardwick. Look it up in the dictionary. Obviously, you know nothing about it. As I have said before in this forum, “medical” marijuana is for losers looking to get high. The entire concept is laughable. The states selling growing permits are the only ones “profiting”. Of course, the long term effects on society greatly outweigh the short-term fiscal “gain”. But, again, losers fail to see any of these horrible secondary consequences and are only concerned about: “dude, let’s get high”. Hey Kevin, what is next? Peyote? It is a “plant the creator brought unto this world”. Heroin? From a “plant that the creator brought unto this world”. Psilocybin? From a “plant the creator brought unto this world”. Wake up!
Terminator, you dumb ass, no one will ever change their behavior one iota because of your stupid opinions. Fools names and fools faces are often seen in public places. Randy, when other people mentally masturbate all over the internet like you have done here they are usually trying to impress their preacher or wife. But you are almost certainly in the closet so here, I will guess gay lover?
What Randy also omits from his ‘opinion’ is that there are forms absent of ant THC that are NOT smoked or edibles, but are injected into very sick children via mickey buttons (abdominal ports) that have been proven to reduce deadly seizures.
Perhaps if someone in his FAMILY suffered from the aforementioned ailment, he may broaden the scope of his research and develop compassion for those in our state that suffer needlessly due to bureaucratic black and white BS!
Sounds to me like Ole Randy has political aspirations…let’s certainly hope NOT!
Nelson. . . tough talk behind the keyboard. Everyone is scared.
Randy Page is another closeted homo. The guy just looks like a bottom. These closet cases make the biggest show of being all Christiany, but all they really want to do is suck cock like Lady Lindsey.