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ON MEDICAL POT LEGISLATION, FLORIDA LAWMAKERS SHOULD LOOK AT OTHER STATES' EXPERIENCES

Florida owes much to legislators Greg Steube and Jeff Brandes for taking the initiative to legalize medical pot.  Now comes the fight to get their bills reconciled and to Gov.  Rick Scott for his signature.

For that, they should study the experiences of Maine and Rhode Island.  Both states are among the first dozen living with their laws long enough to know how they work.  Furthermore, both states get high marks from Americans for Safe Access ( ASA ), the leading proponent of medical pot in the U.S.

The Florida Legislature, if left to its own devices, will focus on keeping medical pot from leaking into the underground market.  Maine and Rhode Island, on the other hand, have focused on such things as how to add qualifying conditions for treatment, protections for employment, child custody and personal cultivation.

U.S.  Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote approvingly of solving contentious social issues "in the laboratory of the states." Medical marijuana is such an issue.  The Florida legislators should not waste time reinventing the wheel.

John G.  Chase,

Palm Harbor