Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jun 2014
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2014 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Author: Sonja Isger
Page: B6
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE HEATS UP

Sides Square Off Over Amendment 2 at Chamber Breakfast.

The governor's signature on a narrow medical marijuana law this week 
did not temper the debate at the Thursday morning Chamber of Commerce 
breakfast surrounding an amendment that would greatly expand that law.

Forty minutes seemed not nearly enough to get a primer from 
representatives on both sides and answer the questions that rolled in 
on its heels from an audience of about 180.

And hours after the debate in downtown West Palm Beach adjourned, 
both proponent and opponent speakers were planning their next stops 
just days away.

Voters across the state are ravenous to learn what Amendment 2 will 
mean for them.

"They're going to be talking about this through November," said 
Dennis Grady, CEO for the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches.

Ben Pollara, campaign manager for Amendment 2 advocates United for 
Care, won the coin toss and opened the discussion by saying Florida 
addresses only a small group of patients with one very specific form 
of marijuana.

"If a doctor recommends a course of treatment, that patient should be 
able to follow that course," Pollara said. "The doctor-patient 
relationship should not be criminalized."

He said marijuana in a variety of forms and strengths should be 
available in a physician's toolbox.

Perhaps most of Pollara's time was spent anticipating the 
opposition's oft-repeated criticisms - what No on Amendment 2 people 
refer to as the amendment's loopholes.

Jessica Spencer, the statewide coalition director for Vote No on 2, 
said those loopholes should give voters pause. Voters are being asked 
to pass an amendment in the state constitution and opponents, 
including Spencer and the coalition, argue the wording is too broad 
and vague. "It's very loosey-goosey," she said.

The loopholes, as the Coalition calls them, refer to things that 
aren't spelled out in the legislation and the potential abuses the 
coalition anticipates.

Issues about who can get the drugs, who can distribute the drugs, who 
will regulate the businesses that sprout as a result.

Pollara said these criticisms miss the mark.

"That language wasn't in there because it's a constitutional 
amendment. They don't just become law and that's it," Pollara said.

Everywhere the speakers go, they hear from people frustrated and 
seeking answers to help loved ones with chronic illness and pain.

Said one person in Thursday's audience: "It is hell going through 
epileptic medications."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom