Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jul 2014
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2014 Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/hdEs6Z0o
Website: http://www.tallahassee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444
Author: Karl Etters, Tallahassee Democrat

OPPONENTS SAY AMENDMENT 2 IS 'DE FACTO LEGALIZATION' OF MARIJUANA

Opponents of Florida's medical marijuana ballot initiative criticized
the language of Amendment 2 Wednesday and pointed to growing concerns
in other states that have allowed recreational use of the drug.

"Don't fool yourself," said Drug Free America Foundation Executive
Director Calvina Faye. "This amendment is de facto
legalization."

Faye was joined by Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger, and Rachel
O'Bryan, who helped shape Colorado's recreational use guidelines.
O'Bryan called the Florida ballot language broadly enabling of
patients who may seek marijuana as a treatment.

The broadness "will swallow the rules," said O'Bryan, who now serves
as the spokeswoman for Smart Colorado, a non-profit group that aims to
minimize the consequences of legalizing marijuana.

The amendment allows a physician to recommend marijuana for
debilitating medical conditions and "other conditions which a
physician believes the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh
the potential health risks for a patient.""<

O'Bryan pointed to increases in crime in downtown Denver, spikes in
impaired drivers and the seemingly unregulated marketing of edible
products containing high levels of marijuana's psychoactive
ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), since Colorado approved
recreational use in 2012.

Eslinger said the Don't Let Florida Go to Pot Coalition was formed out
of the "overwhelming concern we have for Florida youth," and pushed
education of the "ill effects of legal marijuana.

"All we have to do is look at other states and the challenges they
face every day," he said.

Opponents are concerned that a step toward medicinal use is a ruse and
is, in fact, a push to put pot shops on every corner.

"It's a big marijuana industry that will be legalized," Faye said. "I
can assure you, it's not about medicine."  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D