Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jan 2014
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2014 The Tribune Co.
Contact: http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-letters/submit/
Website: http://tbo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446
Author: Jerome R. Stockfisch

MEDICAL POT ADVOCATES ANSWER FOES' POINTS IN NEW PETITION

TAMPA - When the campaign for a constitutional amendment to broadly 
legalize medical marijuana in Florida failed in November, advocates 
promised they'd be back.

They haven't wasted much time.

United for Care, the chief proponent for medicinal pot, said earlier 
this month that a second petition has been approved by the Secretary 
of State's office and the group is collecting signatures to put the 
issue on the November 2016 ballot. United for Care is starting from 
scratch - it will need to collect 683,000 signatures - and says it 
has addressed some key issues that caused the 2014 measure to go down.

"We're back,"  said Ben Pollara, executive director of United for 
Care and head of the 2014 campaign. "One of the big lessons that we 
learned is that it is a tremendous undertaking to get something on 
the Florida ballot, and if we are going to do that, we need to start 
as soon as we can."

United for Care is already expanding on its 2014 base. Taylor Samson, 
a Valrico mother, said she wasn't actively involved in the campaign 
last year, but is on board this time around.

"This is a cause that I believe in,"  said Samson, who is an epilepsy 
patient and has been on a variety of medicines all her life. "I am a 
strong supporter of science and scientific research. I think that we 
need to give Florida the opportunity to seek alternative medicines 
and I want to give the medical and scientific communities the 
opportunity to further explore the potential benefits of medical marijuana."

Petitions are at unitedforcare.org. The group is holding a Tampa 
volunteer meeting to discuss strategy 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at 
the Morgan & Morgan law office, 201 N. Franklin St.

Amendment 2 received nearly 3.4 million "yes"  votes in November - 
half a million more than Gov. Rick Scott received in his successful 
bid for a second term - but the 58 percent approval margin fell short 
of the 60 percent required to amend the Florida Constitution.

Parsing the language of last year's amendment, opponents of medical 
marijuana ran a series of commercials focusing on minors, 
recreational availability, doctors' immunity and qualifications for caregivers.

The new amendment directly requires parental consent, which was not a 
part of last year's campaign because proponents concluded that 
requirement already existed under state law.

It states that those eligible for medical marijuana must have 
debilitating conditions and specifically rules out non-debilitating 
conditions, hoping to counter the argument that Floridians could 
receive the treatment for stress or a stubbed toe.

The 2016 amendment specifically states that negligence and 
malpractice are not subject to immunity under the law; some 
interpretations of last year's measure gave doctors carte blanche to 
prescribe marijuana.

And to address claims that caregivers - who can obtain the substance 
for patients - might be drug dealers or felons, the new amendment 
requires the Department of Health to establish qualifications and 
standards for caregivers, including conducting background checks.

"I don't think there's any way they (opponents) can make those same 
distortions, what they called the "'loopholes,' with this 
amendment,"  said Pollara.

But don't expect the more articulate language to assuage opponents.

"We'll fight it,"  said Calvina Faye, executive director of the Drug 
Free America Foundation. "It's still an issue we feel very strongly 
does not belong in our state Constitution. We know if it did pass, it 
would backfire. And in the Constitution, it's poured like concrete 
and very difficult to fix."

Proponents acknowledge that while the new campaign again aims to 
address the matter in the state Constitution, there's another angle: 
They hope that showcasing the popular support for medical marijuana 
may force the state Legislature to confront the issue.

"The governor and the leadership of the House and Senate must listen 
to the people who gave them their jobs,"  John Morgan, the trial 
lawyer who bankrolled the 2014 campaign, said after results came in 
last November. "They must act on this issue."

Last year, the Legislature legalized a type of marijuana known as 
"Charlotte's Web,"  a non-euphoric strain named for a Colorado child 
who experienced relief from epileptic seizures using the substance.

But implementation of the Florida law has been difficult, with a 
successful court challenge of the initial rules and more hearings set 
for February. There are bills that mimic the language of the 
constitutional amendment, but House and Senate leaders have indicated 
they are reluctant to expand on the "Charlotte's Web"  law until they 
see it in action, and some of the most powerful lawmakers opposed 
last year's constitutional amendment.

Drug Free America is advocating for the Legislature to approve 
expanded clinical trials of drugs such as Epidiolex, which features 
the active "Charlotte's Web"  ingredient, and Merinol, a man-made 
form of cannibis. "We could already have clinical trials going that 
are available to the children that are having the seizures, and 
getting answers whether this was helpful or harmful,"  said Faye.

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive 
medical marijuana programs. Two, Washington and Colorado, allow 
recreational use.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom