Florida's medical marijuana battle

Twenty States and the District of Columbia currently have laws that allow the use of marijuana to treat medical conditions.

Medical cannabis (or medical marijuana) refers to the use of cannabis and its constituent cannabinoids, such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (C-B-D), as medical therapy to treat disease or alleviate symptoms. The Cannabis plant has a history of medicinal use dating back thousands of years across many cultures. Cannabis has been used to reduce nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy and people with AIDS, and to treat pain and muscle spasticity;[2] its use for other medical applications has been studied but there is insufficient data for conclusions about safety and efficacy. Short-term use increases minor adverse effects, but does not appear to increase major adverse effects. Medical Cannabis is not approved by the FDA for use as a cancer treatment.

You're one step closer to voting on whether Florida should allow medical marijuana. The campaign to legalize it in Florida has gathered close to 900,000 signatures to put it on next November's ballot.

But there are still challenges. Supporters of medical marijuana have made a convincing argument that the Florida Supreme Court should allow a constitutional amendment on the November ballot so voters can decide the issue.

BALLOT SUMMARY: Allows the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as
determined by a licensed Florida physician. Allows caregivers to assist patients’ medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health shall register and regulate centers that produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes and shall issue identification cards to patients and caregivers. Applies only to Florida law. Does not authorize violations of federal law or any non-medical use, possession or production of marijuana.



While family dentists and psychiatrists don’t regularly prescribe pot for toothaches or depression, MDs interpreting “any other illness” to include common maladies like anxiety and insomnia do a brisk business at offices specializing in pot cards. Once prescribed marijuana, patients can either grow it themselves or join a non-profit collective where fellow members can supply it to the group.


“California has come to be a kind of hodgepodge of different social models for taking something that was once illegal and making it legal,” says Columbia University sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh, who has studied underground economies in Chicago and New York City. The different approaches have meant that there is no clear answer to the question of how legalized medicinal marijuana affects a city.

Supporters of the new medical marijuana amendment are running out of time to ensure the proposal is on the 2014 ballot.

This goes for California, Florida and many others, It's time we take a stand.



So the battle over Florida medical marijuana as well as many other states will continue while seriously ill patients who could benefit from its use must suffer needlessly at the hands of the states politicians.


External Links
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/patient
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis
http://nextcity.org/forefront/view/drugs-and-the-city