Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was shaking hands with voters at a campaign event in October of 2007, while campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination. One voter, Clayton Holton, in his early twenties, shook the Governor’s hand from his wheelchair. Holton calmly explained that he had muscular dystrophy, that he has to take medication or he’ll die, that his five doctors support the use of medical marijuana for his specific condition, and he himself was not in favor of allowing marijuana to be legalized except for medical use.
Holton, who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disorder that most likely will claim his life, then asked Governor Romney if he would arrest him and his doctors for using medical marijuana.
“I’m not in favor of medical marijuana,” Romney said, shaking his head, and walking away.
Romney did seem somewhat knowledgable about the marijuana issue, asking if Holton had tried synthetic marijuana. Holton explained that synthetic marijuana makes him “throw up.”
If this is the face of compassionate conservatism, I’d like nothing to do with it.
Political positions aside, Romney had choices and options. He could have offered to talk with Clayton Holton in private. He could have offered to have a staffer call him. He could have done something. While not currently a government official, and regardless of his position on marijuana, he could have done something to make sure that Clayton Holton felt he was being heard. Not every campaign stop is a campaign moment. Sometimes, helping others is our ultimate responsibility, whether we agree with their politics or not.
To be fair, Holton’s question certainly would put anyone on the defensive. Using the “Are you going to arrest us?” tack isn’t going to get you a great answer, but I have every reason to believe that this truly is a matter of life and death for Holton, so a little — no, a lot of –compassion and understanding from all sides is warranted.
Not, apparently, however, from Governor Romney, who sensed conflict, and turned tail and ran, defending himself by saying, “I think I have,” when asked to answer Holton’s question.
Journalist Dave Weigel wrote about this interaction for the very libertarian Reason magazine when it happened back in 2007, and pointed to Steve Chapman’s Reason article about medical marijuana, which notes that a majority of Americans, including Republicans, favor allowing medical use of marijuana to be legal:
Recently, the journal Neurology published the results of one clinical trial of HIV patients. It showed that pot “effectively relieved chronic neuropathic pain from HIV-associated sensory neuropathy,” with no adverse side effects.
The mystery is not why anyone believes cannabis can be safe and effective therapy. The mystery is why so many politicians, particularly Republican presidential candidates—Ron Paul, a physician, being the heroic exception—are unwilling to consider the possibility, or to leave the matter up to the states. It’s not even clear their hardline stance is smart politics in their own party.
Wherever you look, public opinion supports medical marijuana. In Texas, a 2004 Scripps-Howard poll found that 75 percent of the people favor allowing it—including 67 percent of Republicans. Such red states as Alaska, Colorado, Montana and Nevada are among the 12 that have legalized medical marijuana.
This is not a dispute between Republican voters and Democratic voters. It’s a dispute between Republican politicians and everyone else.
The issue of marijuana, for medical or recreational reasons, has never really crossed my radar, so I’m ill-equipped to hold an intelligent discussion on it. But in the case that someone is dying, and there’s a substance that doesn’t harm anyone else, and can help them either live or live a little better, shouldn’t it be against the law to not allow it?
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In researching this piece, I came across this page from New Hampshire Compassion about Clayton Holton, and medical marijuana. Take a look.