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| Malcomb Haming Class of 2021 |
On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 the Jefferson County Republican Party voted overwhelmingly to support Kentucky House Bill 166. This bill provided the structure for Kentucky to join nearly 30 other states in allowing eligible patients to use medical marijuana. The reason this resolution was even up for debate was because my dad, Phil Haming, was upset that the governor he voted for wouldn’t endorse the bipartisan bill when nearly 80 percent of Kentucky voters support permitting medical marijuana, according to a 2012 Kentucky Health Issues Poll. He decided to do something about it and drafted a resolution of support at the monthly committee meeting on community issues. My dad told me that this was the first time he felt like he was actually contributing to measurable political change and wasn’t just another body in the room.
On Monday, April 9, he texted me my opening line from my first address to the Kentucky United Nations Assembly. I had opened with the question, “Have you been motivated to do something about an issue that doesn’t affect you whatsoever?" with the caption, “Words from your awesome KUNA speech inspiring me to push for legalization of medical cannabis.” After such a heartwarming text I knew I had to support my dad, so I went to the Executive Committee meeting to witness the debate and the vote on my dad’s resolution. When he got up to speak, he said “Someone I greatly respect once asked me if we can be motivated about issues that don’t directly affect us whatsoever. I don’t know anyone who could use medicinal marijuana, but what I do know is that we are on the wrong side of this issue.” He went on to express that being against common sense proposals like this one is what turns away large swaths of potential Republican voters.
When an amendment was proposed to my dad’s resolution to eliminate part of the a section that said, “numerous medical conditions have been proven to benefit from the prescribing of medical cannabis” along with lines “many men and women in The Commonwealth of Kentucky suffer from the aforementioned conditions” and “medical cannabis is proven to not be addictive and can more adequately treat conditions presently treated by highly addictive opioids.” My dad, knowing all these lines were in fact accurate, strongly opposed the proposed amendment. Fortunately, enough of his fellow committee members agreed with him, and the amendment was voted down. When the vote for the resolution was put to a vote, the JCRP voted overwhelmingly to support my father’s resolution endorsing House Bill 166. With the legislative session in Frankfort ending this week, the bill is still not expected to pass, and thousands of Kentuckians will continue to have no access to medicinal cannabis that doctors say will help them. On the surface not much will change, but that’s not the point. The point is my dad saw a problem that he had zero connection to and did all he could to fix it. My father almost moved me to tears when he told me he was inspired by my words, but that can not match the inspiration I have received from my father’s actions. I’ve never been prouder of my dad.
Malcomb Haming, of Louisville, Ky., is a freshman McConnell Scholar studying political science.