Pubdate: Sat, 23 Mar 2013
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2013 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Page: 14A

MEDICAL MARIJUANA, FOR COMPASSION'S SAKE

Medical marijuana can relieve pain and nausea in people who suffer 
from cancer and chronic diseases. It can increase appetite in people 
who are wasting away. It offers relief for people like Cathy Jordan 
of Manatee County, whose home was raided last month because she grows 
the pot she smokes to relieve the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig's disease.

It is time for Florida to join 18 other states and the District of 
Columbia in legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, 
so long as proper safeguards are in place.

So it's good to see Orlando trial attorney John Morgan-of Morgan and 
Morgan "for the people" fame-promise to put his cash and clout behind 
a 2014 constitutional amendment drive that would let Florida voters 
decide whether to legalize medical marijuana.

If one recent poll is to be believed, the measure will pass handily. 
According to People United for Medical Marijuana, the campaign Morgan 
will lead, 73 percent of Florida voters say doctors should be allowed 
to prescribe marijuana for patients who might benefit from its use. 
Support crosses demographic and regional lines, including five of 10 
Republican voters, the poll showed.

It's tough and expensive to put a constitutional amendment on the 
statewide ballot. Organizers must collect 683,149 signatures from 
valid Florida voters within a short time frame. It can cost millions 
to hire petition gatherers and fund ad campaigns. But Morgan told the 
Miami Herald, "I can get the money. I have the money. I will be 
joined by people with money who will help."

Morgan's entry is a game-changer in Florida's sputtering medical 
marijuana movement.

But it shouldn't have to come to this. Better if the Florida 
Legislature were to pass a law that lets patients obtain small 
amounts of marijuana to relieve their pain, help them sleep or 
stimulate their appetite enough towant to eat.

To that end, Sen. Jeff Clemens, D- Lake Worth, and Rep. Katie 
Edwards, D- Sunrise, have filed the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis 
Act, after the woman whose home was raided last month. The bill would 
allow qualifying patients- as certified by a physician-to growtheir 
own pot or designate a caregiver to cultivate it on their behalf. It 
also would create a legal framework to regulate larger-scale growers 
and dispensaries, a key step in thwarting illegal activity.

"When you have someone roll into your office in a wheelchair with 
multiple sclerosis and look you in the eye and tell you that they 
have tried heavy prescription narcotic drugs and they don't work for 
them- and this drug does work for them-it's hard to look back at them 
and not try to help," Clemens told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board.

Still, chances of passage are cigarette thin. The legislation has 
been sent to four committees for review. "That many committees makes 
it very difficult," Clemens acknowledged.

Enter Morgan, who happens to employ former Gov. Charlie Crist, who 
used to call himself "the people's governor" and is believed to be 
preparing a gubernatorial run as a Democrat.

Politically speaking, voter turnout might benefit Democrats if the 
medical marijuana issue is on the ballot.

But that's not why the Republican-led Legislature should derail the 
constitutional amendment drive by instead passing a law that allows 
sick or dying people to smoke marijuana.

The legislature should legalize medical marijuana because it 
shouldn't be a crime for doctors to help desperately ill patients 
find relief, perhaps eat a meal, or find some rest.

It is the compassionate thing to do.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom