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MEDICINAL POT DESERVES 'YES'

It's not difficult to understand the recent erosion of support for Amendment 2, the ballot initiative that would expand the use of marijuana in Florida by patients suffering from debilitating illnesses.

Indeed, after polling as high as 80 percent among likely voters in the spring, most polls now have it barely hitting the 60 percent threshold needed for passage.

Opponents hammer away at loopholes in the amendment language that they say open the door to abuse - by patients, caregivers and doctors alike.  There is also the underlying fear that that door will usher in legalization of recreational use.

Leave it to the Florida Legislature instead, they say.  Better to approve the use of medical marijuana through legislative statute, as has been done by most of the 23 states and District of Columbia that now have such laws.

We agree.  That would be the better approach, if we could trust the Legislature to act.  But this spring, this same Legislature only grudgingly passed a non-euphoric kind of medical marijuana, to treat epilepsy and other conditions that cause frequent seizures and muscle spasms - mostly in children.

This Legislature needs to be motivated to action - sooner rather than later.  That's why we're recommending that voters approve Amendment 2.

There are potentially a half-million Floridians who can be helped by this amendment, according to state estimates.  Their loved ones are forced to watch them suffer with severe pain day after day, week after week, unable to legally provide them another way to alleviate pain that doesn't bring its own awful side effects.

Amendment 2 would allow the medical use of marijuana for individuals with "debilitating diseases," which the measure defines as "cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ), acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( AIDS ), hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS ), Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."

It is the "other conditions ..." that has many opponents up in arms.  And rightly so.  It is a loophole that can possibly be exploited by unscrupulous, or even well-intentioned, doctors.  Moreover, Florida's recent history with "pill mills" provides a cautionary tale for going down this road.

But "pill mills" were not tightly regulated, as the new marijuana dispensaries hopefully will be.  What's more, the Legislature will have the ability through rule-making to limit how many spring up.  Finally, despite the pill mill crackdown, it's not like highly addictive painkillers - such as Vicodin and Oxycontin - suddenly went away.  Indeed, they are prescribed - legally - with some frequency, even though they are far more dangerous than marijuana.

There is also concern that the six-month window for the state Department of Health to implement Amendment 2, if it passes, is too tight to write rules that must include issuing identification cards to patients and caregivers, developing medical marijuana treatment centers and determining treatment amounts to ensure the "safe use of medical marijuana by qualifying patients."

But the Legislature already has a blueprint for a tightly controlled cultivation and dispensing system from when it legalized the Charlotte's Web strain of marijuana this year.  Also, a bipartisan panel of law enforcement, medical and government experts recently proposed 56 ideas - from doctor certification to treatment center access and product testing - that they said legislators should implement if the amendment passes.

The Florida Supreme Court, in January, found that the ballot language was clear and not misleading.

The justices did their jobs.  Voters should make state lawmakers do theirs, by voting "Yes" on Amendment 2.