Robert Celt
New Member
Backers of a Constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana in Florida announced late last month they'd secured enough signatures to get the measure on the November ballot.
Two years ago, 58 percent of Floridians voted "yes" on a similar amendment. That fell short of the necessary 60 percent supermajority, and Amendment 2 failed.
This time around, we suspect the "Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions" amendment has a better chance of passing. Attitudes about marijuana have continued to moderate, and the precise wording of this new measure, spearheaded by Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan and his United for Care group, seeks to close what critics saw as loopholes in the 2014 proposal.
We agree Floridians should be able to use medical marijuana to relieve the discomfort of cancer, epilepsy or similar medical conditions.
But as we said in 2014, we believe a constitutional amendment is the wrong way to go about securing this access.
We have some reservations about the amendment itself. For example, the measure cites several specific maladies for which medical marijuana might be prescribed, but would also allow use for "other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."
However well-intentioned the sentiment here, this wording remains broad; this loophole hasn't really been closed.
Our primary concern, however, remains our misgivings about writing a right to medical marijuana into the state Constitution.
There's an inflexible finality to this. Should the amendment pass, and unforeseen circumstances arise, it would take another vote by Floridians to change it.
A better solution would be for the Florida Legislature to tackle the issue with an incisive, inclusive proposal that can be tweaked as necessary.
Unfortunately, the Legislature has never made medical marijuana a priority, and the steps it has taken have gotten bogged down in a morass of red tape and lawsuits.
Two years ago the Legislature passed a narrow law that would allow people with cancer and rare forms of epilepsy to use a non-smokable, non-euphoric strain of cannabis known as Charlotte's Web. But the slow process of selecting companies to grow and dispense the low-THC marijuana got contentious and spawned more than a dozen legal challenges.
According to a recent Associated Press report, it could be September before a limited amount of Charlotte's Web might become available.
This represents both a bureaucratic and a moral failure. We sympathize with the frustrations of medical marijuana proponents and understand their determination to act in the face of the state's torpor.
At this time, we still can't recommend a "yes" vote on Amendment 2. We do, however, recommend that Treasure Coast legislators take another look at the issue, and perhaps work toward a legislative framework that would expand access to medical marijuana, eliminating the need to go so far as to tinker with Florida's Constitution.
There are both moral and practical reasons Florida should join the other 23 states (and Washington. D.C.) that have legalized medical marijuana, and it's all but inevitable we will ultimately do so.
But it matters how we get from here to there.
We realize that trusting the Legislature to solve a problem it's shown little interest in solving may ring hollow for proponents. Yet it remains our best bet.
A constitutional amendment may indeed help sick Floridians. But it's an unwieldy tool, a blunt object that could inflict harm, even as it promises to mitigate it.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: FL: Medical Marijuana: A Good Idea, But Not This Way
Author: Staff
Photo Credit: Seth Perlman
Website: TCPalm
Two years ago, 58 percent of Floridians voted "yes" on a similar amendment. That fell short of the necessary 60 percent supermajority, and Amendment 2 failed.
This time around, we suspect the "Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions" amendment has a better chance of passing. Attitudes about marijuana have continued to moderate, and the precise wording of this new measure, spearheaded by Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan and his United for Care group, seeks to close what critics saw as loopholes in the 2014 proposal.
We agree Floridians should be able to use medical marijuana to relieve the discomfort of cancer, epilepsy or similar medical conditions.
But as we said in 2014, we believe a constitutional amendment is the wrong way to go about securing this access.
We have some reservations about the amendment itself. For example, the measure cites several specific maladies for which medical marijuana might be prescribed, but would also allow use for "other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."
However well-intentioned the sentiment here, this wording remains broad; this loophole hasn't really been closed.
Our primary concern, however, remains our misgivings about writing a right to medical marijuana into the state Constitution.
There's an inflexible finality to this. Should the amendment pass, and unforeseen circumstances arise, it would take another vote by Floridians to change it.
A better solution would be for the Florida Legislature to tackle the issue with an incisive, inclusive proposal that can be tweaked as necessary.
Unfortunately, the Legislature has never made medical marijuana a priority, and the steps it has taken have gotten bogged down in a morass of red tape and lawsuits.
Two years ago the Legislature passed a narrow law that would allow people with cancer and rare forms of epilepsy to use a non-smokable, non-euphoric strain of cannabis known as Charlotte's Web. But the slow process of selecting companies to grow and dispense the low-THC marijuana got contentious and spawned more than a dozen legal challenges.
According to a recent Associated Press report, it could be September before a limited amount of Charlotte's Web might become available.
This represents both a bureaucratic and a moral failure. We sympathize with the frustrations of medical marijuana proponents and understand their determination to act in the face of the state's torpor.
At this time, we still can't recommend a "yes" vote on Amendment 2. We do, however, recommend that Treasure Coast legislators take another look at the issue, and perhaps work toward a legislative framework that would expand access to medical marijuana, eliminating the need to go so far as to tinker with Florida's Constitution.
There are both moral and practical reasons Florida should join the other 23 states (and Washington. D.C.) that have legalized medical marijuana, and it's all but inevitable we will ultimately do so.
But it matters how we get from here to there.
We realize that trusting the Legislature to solve a problem it's shown little interest in solving may ring hollow for proponents. Yet it remains our best bet.
A constitutional amendment may indeed help sick Floridians. But it's an unwieldy tool, a blunt object that could inflict harm, even as it promises to mitigate it.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: FL: Medical Marijuana: A Good Idea, But Not This Way
Author: Staff
Photo Credit: Seth Perlman
Website: TCPalm
