Pubdate: Tue, 21 Oct 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: Gerald Ensley
Cited: NORML http://norml.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

A STEP TOWARD LEGALIZATION? HOORAY

Every time opponents talk about Florida's bid to allow medical
marijuana, they throw out the same scare tactic: Medical marijuana
will lead to legalized marijuana!

To which I say: Gee, I hope so.

Because marijuana should be legalized. And if it takes medical
marijuana to start opening that door in Florida, bully for medical
marijuana.

On Nov. 4, Florida voters will vote on three proposed amendments to
the state constitution. Amendment 2 allows Florida residents to buy
and use marijuana for medical conditions.

Already, 23 states and the District of Columbia have voted to permit
medical marijuana.

Opponents recognize it's hard to argue against something that can
reduce the suffering of dreadfully ill people. So they like to warm up
with seemingly logical reasons to oppose Amendment 2: It's bad policy
to make laws through constitutional amendments; medical marijuana will
benefit big corporations not small businesses in Florida; medical
marijuana will lead to stoned workers.

Of course, it's always been questionable policy to make laws through
constitutional amendments - though that hasn't stopped the more than
120 amendments added to the Florida Constitution since 1970. Big
business always dominates small business. And there are stoned workers
even when marijuana is illegal.

(Last week, a state legislator fretted that the law will allow users
to light up in restaurants and presumably make innocent people high
through secondhand smoke - though Amendment 2 carries no provision to
allow anyone to violate the state's 2003 ban on smoking in
restaurants. But this is the same legislator who sponsored the Stand
Your Ground gun bill; clearly he sees threats everywhere.)

But ultimately, the opponents are all afraid of the same thing:
Medical marijuana is the gateway to legalized marijuana. They're right.

Two states have legalized marijuana, Colorado and Washington. Two more
states, Alaska and Oregon, and the District of Columbia have it on the
ballot Nov. 4.

All have made their march toward legalization through the "softer
reforms" of decriminalization and medical marijuana. Colorado and D.C.
both decriminalized marijuana possession and allowed medical marijuana
sales. Alaska, Oregon and Washington have allowed medical marijuana.

This is how progress works: One step at a time.

"We haven't seen any state go from zero to hero," said Allen St.
Pierre, the longtime executive director of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Washington, D.C. "There is
always a period of softer reforms. And because they don't cause much,
if any, tumult, it's easy to argue for more expansive reforms later
on."

Right about now, opponents are yelling, "See? You're making our case!
This is going to lead to full legalization!"

Again, let us hope so. Almost all experts agree marijuana is less
injurious to people's health than alcohol and tobacco - which are
legal. Surveys show half of Americans have tried pot - even though
it's illegal.

Why do we continue to make criminals out of people for something they
continue to use - and which many medically need?

It can only be phony morality: Marijuana has been illegal, therefore
it should remain illegal.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.

"When Congress created the controlled substances act of 1970, it put
marijuana in the list of Schedule 1 drugs with heroin and LSD," St.
Pierre said. "You don't need a degree in pharmacology to know
marijuana has been mis-scheduled by placing it with heroin and LSD.

"So the federal government put themselves in this pickle by coming up
with such a ridiculous standard for cannabis. So when you ask citizens
to break this Gordian knot, they often have by voting for (reform)."

Amendment 2 is no slam dunk. Since 2006, Florida law has required that
a constitutional amendment receive a 60-percent majority to be approved.

A year ago, polls were showing Amendment 2 would pass with as much as
78 percent of the vote. As of last week - thanks to millions of
dollars spent by a small number of wealthy opponents - most polls say
it won't attract 60-percent approval. At least one poll pegged the
number as low as 48 percent.

"The 60-percent threshold is a real problem," St. Pierre said. "I'm
sure it will pass with a majority (more than 50 percent). But it will
be in the history books as a loser."

Since 1996, 30 of 36 states have passed a proposed marijuana reform
measure. The four measures on the Nov. 4 ballot will be a litmus test
for the movement.

According to the polls, St. Pierre said, the legalization measures in
Oregon and D.C. appear likely to pass; Alaska is "a bit of a wobbler."
And Florida's medical marijuana amendment looks iffy.

"From a reform standpoint, we'll take any victory and champion it,"
St. Pierre said. "If we were to lose all four, then I don't think the
editorial writers, columnists and opinion makers would be wrong in
musing that marijuana reform has hit its cultural peak and is on the
way down.

"I don't believe that. But these elections will tell us where we're
going."

Hopefully, in the right direction. Toward legalization. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard