Pubdate: Tue, 20 May 2014 Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2014 Orlando Sentinel Contact: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325 Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs. Author: Scott Powers SHERIFFS DEMINGS, ESLINGER OPPOSE AMENDMENT TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL POT Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings and Seminole Sheriff Don Eslinger joined forces Monday to oppose the medical marijuana issue that Florida voters will consider in November. "If it passes it will adversely impact our quality of life," Eslinger said, as he and Demings publicly embraced the anti-Amendment 2 campaign launched last week by the Florida Sheriffs Association. Orlando lawyer John Morgan, who organized the Amendment 2 campaign, has said that some sheriffs and police chiefs privately support medical marijuana. But in speaking with the Orlando Sentinel editorial board Monday, Demings, a Democrat, and Eslinger, a Republican, made it clear they do not. They criticized what they said are loopholes that could open a Florida medical marijuana industry to widespread abuses, allowing pot use for almost any ailments. They envisioned a state with more than 1,700 pot dispensaries and minors getting doctors' "recommendations" to smoke marijuana without their parents' consents. Demings said he has seen no convincing scientific research that marijuana smoke can be an effective medicine. "An increase of [legal] use is going to result in an increase of abuse," he said. Last week, Morgan's pro-Amendment 2 campaign, United For Care, dismissed similar claims from the Florida Sheriffs Association as "half-truths, distortions and outright lies." United For Care insists that Amendment 2 authorizes state regulators to stop such abuses, and that international research shows marijuana is an effective, last-chance treatment for many debilitating illnesses, from cancer to epilepsy. "The sheriffs' opposition to Amendment 2 is grounded in politics and scare tactics," United For Care Campaign Manager Ben Polarra said Monday. "Passing Amendment 2 will bring relief to sick and suffering Floridians. Period." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom