Pubdate: Fri, 28 Feb 2014
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2014 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Julia Maskivker
Page: A14

LIBERTY DEMANDS THE SICK HAVE ACCESS TO REEFER RX

Here's something else important: ... legal drugs can kill if used in
excess ... without medical guidance.

Marijuana has never killed anybody.

A proposed constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana will
appear along with the governor's race on the November ballot in the
state of Florida. Regardless of their candidate preferences, Florida
voters will be able to decide whether medical marijuana will become a
reality in the Sunshine State.

A November Quinnipiac University poll found that 82 percent of
Floridians support the legalization of medical marijuana, and 16
percent do not. Given this degree of popular support, it would not be
unreasonable to predict that the measure will pass - adding Florida to
the list of 20 states (and the District of Columbia) that permit the
commercialization of marijuana for medical purposes.

Is this a good thing for Florida? For many reasons, I believe it is
clearly positive. But before we delve into those reasons, a point of
clarification is in order: Will the medical-marijuana ballot
initiative benefit the chances of Charlie Crist, the likely
Democratic-favored candidate, in the gubernatorial race against Rick
Scott? Possibly. Young voters, who disproportionately vote liberal,
may have greater incentive to turn out to the polls next November.

But regardless of political considerations, anyone concerned with
freedom of individual choice should find this measure worthy of
support. Medical marijuana can help patients with severe debilitating
conditions alleviate unbearable pain. At its core is the idea that
government should not be given the power to restrict our liberty to
choose how to face an illness - or death.

And so, we return to the main reasons why the legalization of medical
marijuana in Florida is a good thing:

Scientific proof that marijuana is medically beneficial for those
battling life-threatening, physically distressing, conditions is not
scarce. For example, many medications for children with severe
epilepsy have terrible side effects that can impair healthy
development. Some types of seizures are even resistant to medications.
According to the National Institute of Health, one-third of children
with epilepsy cannot control their seizures with traditional treatment.

And a study conducted in 2003 by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth
University discovered that marijuana can play an effective role in
controlling spontaneous seizures in epileptic patients.

The list goes on. Can this ballot measure open the door for the
legalization of recreational marijuana?

Or could Florida become California - where medical marijuana
dispensaries seem to appear on every corner, and the line between
medical and recreational use becomes faint?

There is no logical reason to fear those consequences. If the state
has the power and means to enforce drug laws (and Florida is a strong
drug-laws enforcer in comparison with other states in the country),
then it surely has the capability to regulate the administration of
medical marijuana by law-abiding doctors and properly licensed facilities.

Furthermore, an increasing number of individuals abuse a raft of
currently legal drugs (such as Oxycontin and Xanax). Should we make
those drugs illegal?

We surely don't think that responsible patients should be deprived of
medication when they need it for valid reasons. Similarly, patients in
need of medical marijuana should not be deprived of it. Here's
something else important: Some currently legal drugs can kill if used
in excess or inappropriately, without medical guidance. No one ever
died from a marijuana overdose.

The health benefits of marijuana justify its legalization for medical
uses. A basic human right to dignified medical treatment - and the
unencumbered freedom to have a say in the nature of that treatment -
reinforce that justification.

Guest columnist Julia Maskivker is an assistant professor in the
political-science department at Rollins College in Winter Park.
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MAP posted-by: Matt