Pubdate: Sun, 19 Oct 2014
Source: News Herald (Panama City, FL)
Copyright: 2014 The News Herald
Contact:  http://www.newsherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1018
Author: Valerie Garman

VOTERS TO DECIDE FATE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

PANAMA CITY - With Florida voters slated to weigh in on a measure to
legalize medical cannabis in the coming weeks, campaign interest
groups are launching last-ditch efforts to sell marijuana as either a
dangerous drug or medical miracle.

Officially titled the "Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative,"
Amendment 2 would fully legalize medical marijuana in the state,
providing a much broader scope than the Legislature's Compassionate
Medical Cannabis Act, which legalized a noneuphoric strain of medical
marijuana for specific patients earlier this year.

The amendment was petitioned onto the ballot by United for Care-People
United for Medical Marijuana, the leading campaign group in support of
the measure.

If approved, an action that requires 60 percent of voters' approval,
Florida would become the 25th state in the U.S., including Washington,
D.C., to legalize medical cannabis.

Local United for Care volunteer Frank Day said he joined the movement
to support people suffering from debilitating diseases that could be
appeased with medical marijuana.

"We simply want the doctor and his patient to decide whether it's an
appropriate treatment," Day said. "Vote yes on [Amendment] 2; it's for
the patients."

As a sufferer of rheumatoid arthritis, a painful and debilitating
joint disorder, Day said he was not able to access alternative
medicinal options like medical marijuana as a Florida resident.

"I couldn't use marijuana because it was illegal," Day said. "I'm not
going to cross that line. That's why I'm pushing to make this legal so
patients like myself and others can benefit."

Sarah Stovall,another local supporter of Amendment 2, cited medical
marijuana as a less dangerous alternative to painkillers and other
opiates prescribed by doctors.

"Basically, as a mother, and as a citizen of Florida, it's been really
hard to see how many people are losing friends and children from
opiate overdose," said Stovall, who moved to Panama City from Idaho
five years ago. "I felt like if I didn't get involved, I wasn't being
a responsible parent."

A sufferer of bipolar disorder, Stovall said she used marijuana to
ease symptoms while living in Oregon, which legalized medical
marijuana in 1998.

"It helped me a great deal," Stovall said. "Bipolarism is one of the
worst mental diseases you can have, but when I was able to use, I
wasn't manic; I wasn't depressed."

The other prescribed medicine was hard on Stovall's body, causing hair
loss, damaged teeth and weight gain.

"Living in this state, I have to find something that isn't illegal,"
she said. "I have to take something that shortens my lifespan."

Stovall said if the amendment were to pass, she would expect less
opiate abuse in the state, along with a lower crime rate.

"I really think it would be more jobs, more money, less jail," she
said. "I want to see more people for the people instead of being
scared of something. There has been no documented death from marijuana
use."

'No do-overs'

Led by the organization Drug Free Florida, the Vote No on 2 Campaign
cites the vagueness of the amendment text as a problem that could lead
to irreparable consequences for the state.

Spokeswoman Sarah Bascom said there are far too many red flags in the
amendment text to single out just one.

"There are quite a few loopholes in the way it's written that we think
you could drive a truck through," Bascom said. "If they truly wanted
to help the sick, they could have written it differently."

While the ballot text specifically defines cancer, multiple sclerosis,
glaucoma, hepatitis C, HIV, AIDS, Parkinson's disease, ALS and Crohn's
disease as "debilitating medical conditions," it also throws in "other
conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of
marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."

"It leaves it open to wide interpretation," Bascom said. "It's the
'or' and 'other conditions' that we believe makes it too vague."

Other issues pinpointed by the campaign include what they call the
"teenager loophole," brought on by the amendment's failure to outline
an age restriction for marijuana use, the "pill mill loophole," or no
restricting clause regarding where dispensaries can be located, and
the "drug dealer loophole," a claim that caregiver cards, as defined
in the amendment, could be attained by just about anyone.

"Add all those in, there's a myriad of loopholes," Bascom said. "They
affect our children, they affect the health and wellness of our state."

f the amendment were to pass, it would be up to the Florida Department
of Health to outline further rules, issue patient and caregiver
identification cards and regulate distribution.

Even with the Health Department positioned as the regulatory body and
the Legislature responsible for crafting the implementing language,
opponents fear the ballot language in Amendment 2 would eliminate the
possibility for certain regulations, because the rights set forth by
the Florida Constitution ultimately supersede the laws.

"We believe that the way it's written right now, not even the
Legislature and the regulatory authority will be able to fix all the
problems with this amendment," Bascom said. "We feel like the only way
to rectify this is to vote no."
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MAP posted-by: Matt