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PRO: POT WILL REDUCE NEEDLESS SUFFERING IN FLA.

Retired Air Force Capt.  Jeff Lahman served 25 years in the Air Force, including time in special ops.

He ended up with a series of injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ).  He and his wife, also an Air Force officer, lived in Arizona.  He was prescribed a large dose of oxycodone and other painkillers.  Those prescription medicines brought him to a new low.

A doctor suggested he try medical marijuana.  He did and it changed his life.  He was himself again.  His wife saw the difference.  Just last year, Lahman moved to Florida.  He is a strong supporter of Amendment 2 because it would allow him to legally consult a Florida doctor about using medical marijuana.

Cathy Jordan was diagnosed with ALS in 1986 and given five years to live.  She and her husband, Bob, moved from Delaware to Florida hoping a milder climate would help her condition.  Doctors offered every prescription possible.  Nothing worked.  She began hoarding drugs with thoughts of suicide.  She tried medical marijuana with the help of Bob, and it worked.  It acts as a muscle relaxer, antidepressant and stimulates her appetite.  In 2013, six officers entered her home and confiscated her medical marijuana.

Christopher Cano lives in Tampa.  He was arrested for possession of 24 grams of marijuana he had bought to ease his father's terminal dementia.  Doctors had given Christopher's father a year to live when they diagnosed him in 2010.

Christopher had used marijuana to successfully treat his father's debilitating condition, appetite loss and insomnia for four years until his arrest in April.

Jeanette Bokland spends every day caring for others as a nurse in an Orlando.  The side effects of her chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer almost drove Jeanette to quit fighting her cancer altogether until a friend from Colorado recommended medical marijuana.  Jeanette now feels like herself again.  Do we believe she should be arrested?

Jeff, Cathy, Christopher and Jeanette all live in Florida.  If they lived in any of 23 other states they could lawfully count on access to a treatment that works in each one of their unique cases.

Medical marijuana is an option for people in 23 states and the District of Columbia, but not in Florida.

Voters should seek the truth about medical marijuana and not be misled by hypothetical horror stories.  Amendment 2 provides many people suffering from debilitating medical conditions with a better option to treat their pain than oxycodone and other addictive prescription drugs.

States that allow medical use of marijuana have seen a 20 percent drop in oxycodone deaths.  There is no rise in crime because of medical marijuana.  These states also haven't seen any increase in use of marijuana among youths; in fact, some have even seen a decline in youth consumption.

Amendment 2 does one simple thing: It allows a Florida citizen to seek the advice of a licensed Florida physician about whether medical marijuana can help them.  Only if the doctor concludes that they have a debilitating condition will they be able to obtain medical marijuana from a state-licensed dispensary.

We don't know when we ourselves will become patients who may benefit from medical marijuana.  But we all know someone who could have benefited from at least the option of something that can reduce pain and suffering.

Don't Floridians deserve that chance?