Pubdate: Wed, 15 Oct 2014
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Note: By Sun Sentinel Editorial Board

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DESERVES SUPPORT

On Nov. 4, Support Medical Marijuana

Forget the politicians, self-styled experts and pollsters.

Amendment 2 is about helping sick people.

The amendment would change the state constitution to legalize medical
marijuana. It gives doctors a tool to help patients facing death or
fighting to live another day. It allows the sickest patients to decide
for themselves whether medical marijuana is right for them. And it
gives the state ample room to regulate how marijuana dispensaries
operate and to oversee who issues and receives a card identifying
patients eligible to buy medical marijuana.

Amendment 2, placed on the Nov. 4 ballot by a grassroots initiative,
is necessary to accomplish what Florida lawmakers have failed to do.
It makes available to people dealing with cancer, ALS and other
debilitating diseases a drug known to alleviate pain, encourage
appetite and offer significant quality-of-life improvements.

For all of its benefits, Amendment 2 is a big step that must be taken
thoughtfully. It is not perfect. There is room for abuse. There will
be unintended consequences.

Formidable opponents of Amendment 2 include the Florida Sheriff's
Association, the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Chamber
of Commerce. Even Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an ardent Democrat and
cancer survivor, opposes the amendment because she worries about abuse.

As written, Amendment 2 does not define all debilitating diseases that
would allow a doctor to recommend that a patient receive medical
marijuana. There is no age limit for patients. And the amendment
allows patients to appoint a caregiver without medical experience to
purchase marijuana on their behalf, opening the door for diversion to
illicit use.

These issues lead opponents to say Amendment 2 is riddled with
loopholes, will cause more problems and lead to legalized pot. These
concerns cannot be dismissed out of hand. But the Legislature and
local governments can close loopholes and address unforeseen problems
that arise. Whether Florida should legalize recreational pot is a
discussion for another day.

Florida, South Florida in particular, has learned the hard way that
lives can be ruined or ended when drug laws fall short, as they did
with prescription medications. In the end, we learned how to deal with
pill mills. Rather than ban narcotics, lawmakers passed regulations
and penalties that stemmed the flow of illegal prescriptions while
protecting access for legitimate patients.

It is essential to apply that lesson and vigilance to medical
marijuana, and it is encouraging that such safeguards are being
applied to Charlotte's Web, the non-euphoric strain of marijuana the
Legislature approved to help children with debilitating diseases.

Some people worry a constitutional amendment will put medical
marijuana too deep into our law books, out of reach of regulation.

But medical marijuana needs to be in the constitution to prevent
lawmakers from contradicting the amendment, for example by banning
dispensaries. Constitutional status would not prevent lawmakers from
passing reforms similar to those used to clean up pill mills. A law
forbidding doctors to run dispensaries at their practices, for
instance, could and should be passed.

Already Boca Raton, Coconut Creek and Boynton Beach are lining up to
pass moratoriums against dispensaries as city leaders study impacts
and possible rules.

Under Amendment 2, the Florida Department of Health would be
responsible for regulation of medical pot. The department would, among
other things, control patient identification cards, oversee treatment
centers and determine reasonable amounts of marijuana for medical use.

Elected officials in Tallahassee failed to heed a growing public
demand for medical marijuana. We are here because the public's hand
was forced. Yet how we got here is not as important as where we have
yet to go. That includes careful regulation, but more importantly it
means quickly making available to suffering patients a treatment that
we know works.

Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, has famously admitted he bought
marijuana for a friend in pain in the 1980s. He bought it for a
Methodist minister dying of cancer, when nothing else worked.

Think about that minister when you go to vote. Think about the up to
400,000 people the Florida Department of Health reports might benefit
from treatment with medical marijuana. Think about the 783,000
registered voters who signed a petition to get Amendment 2 on the
ballot -- and the sick people they love.

Amendment 2 is not about fear of problems that might or might not
happen. Voters should approve medical marijuana because it promises
better, safer and more compassionate care.
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MAP posted-by: Richard