O
n Nov. 4, Floridians will vote on an initiated constitutional amendment called Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative or Amendment 2.
The Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative legalizes the medical use of marijuana by patients, administration of marijuana by caregivers, recommendations by licensed physicians and the sale of marijuana by medical marijuana treatment centers.
I support the legalization of medical marijuana. I want those in serious pain and suffering to find relief through the medical benefits of marijuana. However, Amendment 2 is deeply flawed.
If Amendment 2 passes, it will be abused. Its terminology is too broad, and it leaves too much power in the hands of licensed physicians and the Florida Department of Health.
This all sounds reasonable. However, the devil is in the details.
The initiative allows licensed physicians to recommend marijuana to patients for a “debilitating medical condition,” or “other conditions” where the physician believes medical marijuana is appropriate for relief.
Most established, licensed Florida physicians would not abuse the recommendation of medical marijuana. However, the ability of physicians to prescribe medical marijuana may have unintended consequences.
California approved the use of medical marijuana in 1996. Since then, “Pot Doc” shops have popped up everywhere. Greg Warmoth, Orlando’s Channel 9 reporter, visited California in November 2013 for an investigative report, which unearthed the unintended consequences of medical marijuana.
Warmoth went to a licensed physician for a medical marijuana recommendation. He was encouraged to say he had trouble sleeping and was then given a recommendation for medical marijuana by the licensed physician. He proceeded to a “Pot Doc” shop and bought his marijuana.
The licensed physician was a gynecologist who opened the “Pot Doc” shop on the side for extra money. This same situation has the potential to occur in Florida if Amendment 2 passes.
The situation is complicated by medical marijuana not being approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Prescribing marijuana is illegal, so as the legislation currently stands, doctors who recommend it have no control over dosages.
When patients purchase pot, it will not be bought from a reputable doctor’s office. Under Amendment 2, someone with no pharmaceutical or medical experience, no license and no training can sell pot.
Also, Amendment 2 provides no guidelines for the location of these “Pot Docs.” They could open up shop anywhere — next to schools or residential neighborhoods.
The buyer, especially one who is not suffering a debilitating disease, could then leave the shop and light up anywhere.
In the footage from Warmoth’s California report, people line the streets smoking blunts. Keep in mind, recreational marijuana is not legal in California.
If Amendment 2 passes, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) will be left to work out the details. The department creates procedures the medical marijuana treatment centers or “Pot Docs” have to follow and also creates regulations for how much marijuana patients can obtain.
Some might argue that the Florida Department of Health is highly qualified to make these important decisions, certainly more so than state legislators.
However, the Florida Medical Association, which is a professional association that represents doctors in legislation, public health and other affairs voted unanimously against the support of Amendment 2.
Madelyn Butler, a past president of the FMA, says she agrees with seven former Florida Supreme Court justices who joined together opposing Amendment 2. They said, “Anyone who reads the full text of Amendment 2 should readily agree it is plagued by loopholes and vagueness that would lead to a myriad of unintended and undesirable consequences.”
People on both sides of the medical marijuana debate have sensationalized this issue. Scare tactics from the opposition that suggest Amendment 2 will allow drug dealers to move in next door are overdramatic.
Commercials in favor of Amendment 2 that appeal only to emotion, like those from the Morgan Law Firm, which gave $3,535,897 in Amendment 2 campaign funds, leave out important logistical concerns about legalizing medical marijuana.
Amendment 2 is too broad and contains too many loopholes for the abuse of medical marijuana. Those who truly need medical marijuana treatment deserve it, but the passage of Amendment 2 is not in the state of Florida’s best interest.
Lindsay Alexander is a UF journalism sophomore. Her columns appear on Wednesdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 10/1/2014]
