- The all cash industry is ripe for corruption. How transactions are tracked and revenue recorded can easily be altered.

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1 - There is no scientific proof that Marijuana provides any medical benefit. Research and double blind studies need to be conducted to determine benefits, side effects, drug interactions, acceptable doses, etc. - Testimony has been provided on anecdotal stories but there has been no medical documentation of the benefits gained from marijuana products. It is well documented that in desparate medical situations, placebo effects can be observed due to the hopefulness of the individual for benefit. This is why controlled, designed studies are required. - In no way is Marijuana in a smokeable form medicine. The long term health risks associated with smoking a product are much more harmful than the short term potential benefit of Marijuana. There is not one legitimate medical organization that endorses the use of smoked marijuana or a non-fda approved product as medicine. - Medicine is not legislated, it is approved through the federal FDA process. With a medical marijuana card, a patient can self medicate to the extent they desire. What other form of psychoactive substance is prescribed by doctors without a dose, or a frequency associated with it and allow the individual to use as much as possible? - The parents who are asking for help with their epileptic children are manufacturing these medications in their homes. No one knows the potential health risks of homemade concoctions on the children they are hoping to benefit. Images below are from medicine created in a kitchen of a SC home and shipped to another parent for administration to their sick child. -

2 The FDA was created for a reason to have medicines that have been properly vetted, that are manufactured in safe, sterile environments, that are reproducible in their dose, that require labeling and all contaminants and constituents are known and labeled, to require dosing instructions to be provided essentially to establish safety. Bypassing the science and legislating this compound as medicine is irresponsible and puts SC at an unnecessary and unfounded risk. THIS IS NOT MEDICINE. - The committee heard testimony from several veteran soldiers that Marijuana assisted them with PTSD and several legislators commented that our soldiers deserved to receive benefit if it helped. The American Psychiatric Association states that marijuana is in no way beneficial for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and in fact, current evidence supports, at a minimum a strong association of cannabis use with the onset of psychiatric disorder. Is this truly the best we can do for our soldiers? It is offensive that when a soldier returns from a traumatic war experience and needs serious mental health treatment for the disorder that as a society we would offer a joint as a replacement therapy. Is this truly what our soldiers deserve? THIS IS NOT MEDICINE. - The legendary Navy Seal Chris Kyle was shot and killed by former Marine Eddie Ray Routh who was experiencing PTSD and self medicating with Marijuana. Routh experienced a psychotic episode and was shown to be under the influence of marijuana at the time of the shooting. - James Holmes shooter from the infamous Aurora, Colorado Movie theater shooting and Jared Lee Loughner, shooter of US Representative Gabby Giffords and many others were both under the influence of marijuana at the time of their psychotic rampages. This medicine is not a substitute for real medicine and legislative endorsement will likely

3 increase the mental health issues of the public because people who truly need real medical treatment will try to self-medicate. THIS IS NOT MEDICINE and has not been proven as such. - In states that passed Medical laws, a pill mill environment has been created where a limited number of unprofessional doctors become known as a source to receive a marijuana card and with a limited doctor/patient relationship and a standard fee, they are willing to issue cards for almost any condition. It is a highly profitable relationship for the doctors and it is unfounded by the science. - - In medical states, 93% of card holders claim they have the cards for chronic pain and yet the largest demographic of card holders are males in the age bracket. Bills like H 4037 are not intended to provide medical relief for a very small portion of sick children, it is a front for legitimized recreational marijuana use under the guise of medicine. - Several of the states that moved forward with legalization did so because the efforts to try to regulate and manage the medical use of marijuana were out of hand.

4 - Revenues from states with Medical Marijuana do not begin to cover the expense to the agencies tasked with regulating and enforcing. This has been confirmed with multiple marijuana states. - All Marijuana transactions are cash only because banks cannot handle money from the industry that is federally illegal. This has caused a spike in armed robberies in states with any type of marijuana industry. Many dispensaries are guarded by armed guards. - The all cash industry is ripe for corruption. How transactions are tracked and revenue recorded can easily be altered. - States with medical marijuana all lead the country in the percentage of youth using marijuana. All marijuana states have seen an increase in teenage use so we know there is diversion and increased recreational use particularly in part to the state sanctioned use of the drug as safe. - The list of medical conditions that H4037 allows to be treated with medical marijuana is too extensive. There is no proof that this compound can help with these conditions and it may end up causing serious problems for those individuals intended to help. The exception clauses essentially allow this to be prescribed for anything. - Seed to sale is touted as a method to prevent diversion. This is only as good as the monitoring system that regulates the tracking and also in no way prevents diversion after the sale. Because any individual with a marijuana card can purchase 2 grams over and over again, this purchased marijuana can easily be diverted. - What does this bill make legal? o A patient can have 2 ounces on them at any time. This is the equivalent amount of 120 joints.

5 o o o After this is used, they can go back to the dispensary and purchase more there is no limit to what a patient can use during a month. How many prescriptions have ever been issued by a doctor that allowed you to visit the pharmacy and have unlimited refills? A caregiver can have up to 5 patients and can have marijuana for 5 patients. This is equivalent to 10 ounces or 600 joints.

6 - The legislation allows a person to purchase this 2 grams, use it and then purchase 2 more grams and this can continue daily and multiple times a day. No states currently have their dispensaries linked to track how many purchases a card holder makes in one day or in any time period. How many prescriptions that we receive from a doctor allow an individual to refill their prescription as many times as they would like? THIS IS NOT MEDICINE. - H 4037 allows for very serious and dangerous forms of marijuana to be legal. This bill allows an individual to possess up to one ounce of concentrated oil. This product is frequently referred to as Butane Honey Oil or Dab. - Dab is consumed by taking a small dab of the concentrated THC paste/oil, superheating a pipe with a blowtorch and then placing the dab on the superheated pipe essentially vaporizing it while huffing it in. Concentrates in the 90+% THC concentration are used which produces a high so intense that the subject often passes out. There are many You Tube videos demonstrating the powerful nature of this substance. 1 ounce of concentrated oil is equivalent to over 2000 hits of marijuana and this can be purchased over and over as soon as a person wishes.

7 - Concentrated oils are produced by a process of packing a tube with plant material and pushing through butane to extract the THC from the plant material. The butane eluent is captured in a container at the bottom of the tube and then exposed to a heat source. Because of the highly flammable nature of butane, this process has resulted in a high number of explosions from these plants and has become as dangerous or more dangerous than methamphetamine labs. There are numerous videos on YouTube regarding how to make BHO (Butane Honey Oil).

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9 IMAGES FROM BHO Lab explosions: - Through H 4037, a cardholder could possess up to 8 ounces of diluted oils. There is not definition of what diluted oil means. This could mean anything that is less than 95%, or it could mean anything less than 1%, there is no way to know. This presents many

10 problems for law enforcement and dispensaries. - Edibles are legal through H4037. Edibles are the one compound that even Colorado is currently considering banning. They are incredibly dangerous. Because the drug has to go through the absorption process of the digestive system instead of the usual inhalation process, many users eat too much thinking they are not experiencing the effects and then they become out of control. - 3 recent deaths are related to edibles in Colorado alone: o Luke Goodman, 23, killed himself at a condo in Colorado s Keystone Ski Area where he was staying with his family for 2 weeks. Goodman and his cousin Caleb Fowler purchased $78 in marijuana products including edibles. They began injesting peach tart candies, each containing the recommended dose of 10 mg of THC. Fowler says Goodman ate at least 5 of the candies and later became jittery and was talking incoherently. Goodman did not want to leave the condo with his family later in the evening and when alone, got the handgun his family used for protection when traveling and took his life. o Wyoming college student Levy Thamba Pongi, 19, who took a leap from a Denver hotel balcony after eating pot-infused cookies. Marijuana intoxication was listed by the coroner as a significant factor in his death.

11 o Kristine Kirk, 44, mother of 3, who was allegedly shot and killed byher husband Richard Kirk. She had called 911 to report that her husband was experiencing hallucinations after taking marijuana candy with prescription medicine. Prosecutors have charged him with first degree murder. -Edibles do not look like medicine and have been responsible for hundreds of emergency room visits in states where they are accessible.

12 THIS IS NOT MEDICINE:

13 - These are being targeted at the youth market, not aging, sick individuals with terminal conditions.

14 - This would allow numerable dispensaries to be established throughout the state. Does this look like a place where anyone would receive medicine. -

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