February 1, 2019 Weekly Commentary

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Danger: ERA Introduced in Georgia

Georgia Insight’s Weekly Commentary, February 1, 2019 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

On March 22, 1972, Congress passed a bill to add an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution, if three-fourths (38) of the states ratified it within seven years. When that bill passed, former two-term Georgia senator Jimmy Carter, was governor of Georgia, and was elected to a four-year term as U.S. President in 1977.  Those are compelling facts, specifically, because (a) the ERA passed Congress during Mr. Carter’s term as Georgia’s Governor and (b) the ratification process was during and extended beyond his time in the presidency.  Despite the Georgia native’s powerful positions during that time, the ERA never passed in his home state.

While those facts are significant, another compelling story must be considered when S.R. 55 and S.R. 66 are considered in committee.  This story involves James H. Floyd, Chattooga County’s representative for 22 years before his 1974 fatal heart attack.  He was nick-named “Sloppy” because his over-sized high school football jersey was too big for his skinny frame.

“Sloppy” Floyd lived when men could address women as “Honey” without being called sexist, and that’s what he did.  After Decatur resident Eliza Paschal asked the House committee to pass the ERA, Mr. Floyd said, “Honey, tell me what you want to do that Georgia law won’t let you do, and I’ll fix it.”  I don’t know how she answered him, but that question swirled round-and-round in her mind until she realized this: There was no Georgia law that kept her from doing whatever she wanted to do, simply, because she was a woman. Continue reading →

January 25, 2019 Weekly Commentary

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“Misgendering,” “Deadnaming,” and True Pronouns

Georgia Insight’s Weekly Commentary, January 25, 2019 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

You’ve heard about the Decatur City School superintendent’s July 2016 mandate that preferred transgender pronouns will be used, regardless of biological sexual identity or whether or not using the opposite-sex pronoun to refer to an individual is okay with students, faculty, parents, school board or community. To be clear, he mandated that any boy who identifies as a girl shall be identified as a female; will use intimate facilities girls use, try out for girls’ sports, and room with other girls on field trips.

Six months later, parents learned of the superintendent’s policy on Facebook and, appropriately, took their complaint to the local school board that had a public hearing, then upheld the policy.

After implementation of that policy, a “gender fluid” boy assaulted a five-year-old girl in Oakhurst Elementary School restroom for girls in 2017. Although that incident had no effect on the school district’s transgender policy, the USDOE Civil Rights Office has opened an official investigation since Decatur schools receive federal funding.

A Virginia high school French teacher fired in December for not using a transgender student’s preferred pronouns said this in a television interview, “I used the new name, I avoided feminine pronouns, but male pronouns were a bridge too far. I did everything in my power to accommodate and show respect towards this student and this student’s choices.” Continue reading →

January 18, 2019 Weekly Commentary

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Will Georgia Legalize Pot?

Georgia Insight’s Weekly Commentary, January 11, 2019 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Although the Georgia General Assembly passed laws authorizing the medical use of low potency THC for patients on the state registry, folks who want marijuana grown in the state are not satisfied.

Since the 2018 legislature adjourned last spring, two special study committees have met to find ways to accomplish two goals: (a) in-state cultivation of marijuana to provide retail sales of THC oil, and (b) in-state cultivation of hemp-grade marijuana for manufacturing multiple retail products.

Whether it’s grown for hemp or THC oil, marijuana is a dangerous, addictive, hallucinogenic product when it’s smoked.  Also, there is noproven medical benefit for THC oil that’s taken by mouth or injected.  The tension in this debate is between scientific fact and emotional need.

Scientists say the medical benefits of cannabis have been debated globally for 150 years.  After a hundred years of listing cannabis extracts as sleep aids and treatment for convulsions, the British and U.S. Pharmacopeia took cannabis extracts off the list for the same reasons debated today. Continue reading →

January 2019 Newsletter

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Three-pronged Pressure to Cultivate Marijuana In-state

1. H.B. 65 Study Committee on Low THC Medical Oil Access

The official quest for in-state cultivation of marijuana in Georgia began in 2015, when H.B. 1 became law authorizing tetrahydrocannabinol1 (THC) treatment for eight2 specific conditions.

A 2017 law provided reciprocity for states requiring state-issued cards for THC treatment, cut physician reporting to twice a year, and made hospice patients and six more ailments3 eligible.

In 2018 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and intractable pain were added when H.B. 65 passed to create a ten-member Joint Study Committee on Low THC Medical Oil Access. After holding five public meetings across the state, committee co-chairmen filed the following final recommendations:

H.B. 65 Study Committee Recommendations

1. Reclassify THC from a Schedule I drug to Schedule II, to legalize physician prescriptions.

2. If marijuana is not reclassified federally, the 2019 General Assembly should do so.

3. The Commission wants marijuana to be exempted from the Georgia Seed Law4.

4. Licenses: 10 for cultivation, 10 for manufacturing, and license dispensaries as necessary.

5. The Commission recommends control of labeling and state-wide laboratory testing.

6. The Commission recommends that the Georgia Department of Health oversee the process.

7. The Commission recommends prohibiting pesticides and insecticides on marijuana plants.

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