Removing marijuana's federal schedule 1 status is a campaign issue in the 16th Congressional District race. SARASOTA -- Candidates for the District 16 congressional race are staking out divergent positions on the question of whether marijuana should be removed from Schedule 1 status to afford military veterans another potentially potent option for dealing with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries, something explored recently by the Herald-Tribune and supported by a growing field of veterans and national veterans organizations in the face of an epidemic of military suicides. [continues 893 words]
SARASOTA -- Several panelists made their cases in a Thursday forum for why marijuana should no longer be classified by the federal government as a Schedule 1 drug as dangerous as heroin. The program focused on the Herald-Tribune project "Warriors Rise Up," which found a gaping rift between what many combat veterans want to treat their post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries and what they can legally get. Rather than a cocktail of painkillers, many veterans prefer the relief they receive from marijuana. Because of marijuana's Schedule 1 designation under federal law, however, the VA has not considered it an option -- even in states that have legalized the drug for medical use. [continues 450 words]
SARASOTA -- The perky melody behind Hollywood Undead's "Bullet" conflicts sharply with the despair in its refrain: "A stomach full of pills didn't work again/I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone gone ... "In the days preceding Alan Younger's death, his widow, Amber, says she could hear it playing all the time on his earbuds. After learning last week of the Trump administration's apparent designs on keeping marijuana chained to its Schedule 1 status, the widow of a veteran she describes as "an awesome father" is now adding her voice to a growing chorus of Americans imploring Congress to take action. [continues 820 words]
SARASOTA COUNTY -- The county is moving to ban the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana if the practice is ever legalized in Florida. The County Commission last week unanimously voted to authorize its staff to draft an amendment to current county laws to prohibit the growing, processing and sale of recreational marijuana should it ever become legal in the state. Commission Chair Nancy Detert was absent for the vote. The move comes several weeks after the commission approved the county's first two medical marijuana dispensaries. The commission on April 10 voted to allow Trulieve to open a medical marijuana dispensary in a freestanding building in the Venice Pines Shopping Plaza on Jacaranda Boulevard -- the county's first approved dispensary. A day later, the board approved a request by Sarasota-based AltMed to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 5077 Fruitville Road in the Cobia Bay shopping plaza. [continues 172 words]
SARASOTA COUNTY -- More medical marijuana is coming to the county after the Sarasota County Commission on Wednesday approved the second dispensary application in two days. The County Commission voted 4-1 to allow Sarasota-based AltMed to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 5077 Fruitville Road in the Cobia Bay shopping plaza -- making it the second approved dispensary in unincorporated county. Commissioner Mike Moran, who has concerns medical dispensaries could be the gateway to legalizing recreational marijuana in the state, cast the dissenting vote. [continues 133 words]
GAINESVILLE -- The University of Florida could start growing industrial hemp as soon as the fall. But the project still has to pass some hurdles before planting begins, said Rob Gilbert, chairman of the UF/IFAS agronomy department. The university's board of trustees approved the project Friday, and now the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration must approve importing industrial hemp seeds. Then the project needs to secure the $1.3 million it needs and the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services must approve a planting permit. [continues 458 words]
SARASOTA - When the Drug Enforcement Administration was formed in 1973, roughly 2,000 Americans were dying from overdoses each week, largely from heroin injections. In 2016 alone, thanks to a deregulated pharmaceutical industry, fatal overdoses -- 80 percent opioid related - -- claimed 63,000 lives. Or, as Peter Bensinger pointed out Thursday morning, opium-derived drugs have exacted a higher death toll in a single year than nearly two decades of fighting in the Vietnam War. Appointed by President Ford in 1976 to become the nation's second DEA director, Bensinger detailed the history of America's relationship with the poppy to a Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning crowd gathered at First United Methodist Church. As the leading cause of death for U.S. residents under 50, the toll from opioids and its synthetic counterparts today would've been unimaginable to Bensinger when he was the nation's top drug cop. [continues 204 words]
After a unanimous vote of support by the Sarasota City Commission, medical marijuana dispensaries will now be operational in the city and those with prescriptions will be able to utilize them immediately. State legislation had preempted the city's ability to regulate the dispensaries, which led to commissioners placing a temporary ban on them until a solution could be found. That solution happened last month when commissioners approved a plan to change zoning codes, paving the way for those prescribed the drug for various medical ailments to obtain it locally. [continues 342 words]
Health advocates are hopeful the 2017 numbers will show a decline. Across Florida the number of babies born to opioid-addicted mothers spiked in 2016. According to the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, 1,903 infants at Florida hospitals suffered from neonatal abstinence syndrome in 2014. That number climbed to 2,487 in 2015 and to 4,215 in 2016. At Sarasota Memorial Hospital, babies suffering from opioid addiction withdrawal numbered 67 in 2014, jumped to 110 in 2015 and peaked at 114 in 2016. [continues 329 words]
Sarasota-based medical marijuana company AltMed Florida is poised to begin growing its first crop of marijuana at a facility in Apollo Beach. The Florida Department of Health authorized Plants of Ruskin -- the nursery that is partnering with AltMed -- to begin operating the cultivation facility. "We have worked diligently to build what we believe will be the most advanced indoor cultivation facility in Florida, and one of the finest in the country," AltMed CEO John Tipton said in a press release Monday. [continues 270 words]
TALLAHASSEE -- Seemingly learning from past mistakes, state health officials have issued an emergency rule outlining the application process for new medical-marijuana vendors seeking to receive licenses in two weeks. The new rule, published Wednesday and going into effect immediately, outsources the evaluation of the applications to "subject matter experts," requires "blind testing" of the applications, and includes a detailed application form --- all departures from the Department of Health's previous medical-marijuana regulations that spawned a series of legal and administrative challenges. [continues 974 words]
SARASOTA COUNTY - The 27-year-old man was found dead on Feb. 24 inside a Walmart bathroom in East Bradenton. He had a history of heroin use. A small bag containing a white substance was recovered from the scene. A child called their uncle on Jan. 6 because their 30-year-old mother was unresponsive. When the uncle arrived, he found the woman dead with a needle in her arm. He placed the needle in a drawer so the children wouldn't see it. Crime scene technicians took the syringe as evidence. [continues 1302 words]
Florida should become 24th state to allow medical use of marijuana If proposed constitutional Amendment 2 is approved by at least 60 percent of voters, Florida would not break new ground: Twenty-three states have already approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons. Amendment 2 -- titled "Use of Marijuana for Certain Medical Conditions" -- is the most controversial proposal on the general election ballot. Yet, if the measure is approved by at least 60 percent of voters, Florida would not break new ground: Twenty-three states have already approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons. [continues 869 words]
Why are so many afraid that medical marijuana will get into the hands of those who will use it for recreational purposes? It is already in the hands of those people but without safety controls and the state collecting taxes. I am 81 years old and I don't use pot. But folks like me need to speak up for the sake of common sense and the reduction in use of Big Pharm narcotics for pain. Susan L. Ward-Steinman Venice [end]
While polls this summer indicated widespread support for medical marijuana in Florida, the latest surveys appear to show backing for Amendment 2 slipping amid a drumbeat of recent advertisements from opposition groups. Even United for Care, which has been leading a charge for medical marijuana here and once basked in polls that showed nine in 10 Floridians supported the constitutional amendment, has taken on a renewed urgency in the days leading up to the election Tuesday . "We are behind on our fundraising goal," Ben Pollara, United for Care's campaign manager, wrote last week. "I literally need to raise a couple of thousand more in the next couple of hours, or we're not going to have everything in place." [continues 1024 words]
With all the debate over Amendment 2, I would like to add a short story about my dear grandmother. She was born and raised in Canada. One of 23 siblings, she married my grandpa and moved to Sarasota in 1921. She was a staunch Catholic and, as would be expected, old-fashioned. She was also stricken with severe arthritis, her fingers twisted and had to walk with two canes because of her knees. It was not easy for her. As a teenager in the mid-1960s, while visiting with my granny, I got hungry and went rummaging through her cupboard for food when I came upon a mayonnaise jar full of what I knew to be marijuana. I took the jar to Granny and asked her if she knew what it was. [continues 116 words]
For many politicians in Florida, the medical marijuana issue has become election kryptonite. While Florida's two leading gubernatorial candidates have had little trouble discussing their vision for the Sunshine State, neither Charlie Crist nor Gov. Rick Scott has gushed over Amendment 2 - an issue that could have widespread ramifications for the state and influence a national debate on medical marijuana. Their silence on the drug and the constitutional amendment up for a vote on Nov. 4 stands out as one of the few commonalities between Scott, the incumbent Republican, and Democratic challenger Crist. [continues 1370 words]
A large personal injury law firm is pushing to legalize non-prescription marijuana under the guise of "medical marijuana." But genuine "Charlotte's Web" medical marijuana is now legal. The real need has been met. Marijuana's THC is stored and gradually released from human tissue for six weeks after initially being inhaled, causing laziness and an intermittent haze that interferes with coordination, reasoning and short-term memory. That in turn interferes with learning. Police know the damage of marijuana far too well. Legalizing it would sink morale and add to law enforcement burdens. Widespread marijuana usage beyond the rare cases of genuine medical necessity is a disaster. Highways are hazardous enough now. There is no reason to add the danger of more stoned drivers. [continues 91 words]
Hardly a day goes by without a mention of the pot legalization issue in the Letters section, whether it be pro or con or whatever. The letters against the medical marijuana amendment are indeed the most entertaining, due to the fact that most make it out that the users are all going to turn into zombies or werewolves, or some other sort of undesirable misfits who will be out and about mindlessly causing mayhem and havoc upon the general populace. What these anti-pot people are missing is the fact that the people in need of chronic pain relief are already taking pain meds that are far more likely to cause impairment as far as driving, operating machinery, etc. If the truth be known, most of the "users" will probably be sitting back in an easy chair watching an old movie, or listening to music, while having a munchies attack and hopefully enjoying a short period of time pain free! Steve Gardner Venice [end]
I had been somewhat puzzled by the intense opposition to the medical marijuana proposition. After all, marijuana is an easily grown, natural plant product, provides relief from intense pain and could be regulated just as other drugs are. It is already at work in other states. All of the opposition became more clear when I read of the millions of dollars the drug companies have pumped into the campaign to defeat the proposition. At the same time they are proudly announcing the arrival of their new "specialty" drugs, which will be available to the public at the "mere" cost of (gasp) $3,000 for a month's supply. Do you wonder how many Americans could afford to pop a $100 pill every day? The old adage "Follow the money" surely does explain a lot! For compassionate reasons, and for common sense, please vote Yes for medical marijuana. Margaret Pasella, Bradenton [end]
