Tallahassee – With medical marijuana already a reality in Florida, voters will decide in November whether to vastly expand the types of patients who are eligible for the treatment.
It’s the second time Floridians will weigh in on a medical-marijuana constitutional amendment, with the first proposal narrowly failing in 2014 to capture the 60 percent approval required for passage.
But the evolving politics of pot, an already-established marijuana industry and increased voter turnout for the presidential election improve the odds of passage in 2016.
"It’s not a newfangled wild proposition. Five million Florida voters have already considered the issue, and it nearly passed with that electorate that is a much more conservative electorate than we have this time," University of Florida political science professor Daniel Smith, who specializes in ballot initiatives, said in a recent telephone interview. "The establishment was much more opposed to medical marijuana two years ago than they are today. … So the fearmongering ‘the sky will fall’ argument is two years put to rest."
The proposal on the Nov. 8 ballot appears to have overwhelming support, according to recent polls. A Florida Chamber of Commerce poll found that 73 percent of likely voters endorse the measure, after 58 percent voted for the 2014 version.
Partly to fend off the 2014 pot proposal, Florida lawmakers that year authorized non-euphoric marijuana for patients with epilepsy, chronic muscle spasms or cancer. The 2014 law also set up a regulatory structure for the marijuana industry. The Legislature this year expanded the law to allow full-strength marijuana for terminally ill patients.
But supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment say the Florida law does nothing for a host of severely ill patients who could benefit from the treatment.
Backers of the initiative, now titled "Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Illnesses" and appearing on the ballot as Amendment 2, tweaked the 2014 version to address criticisms from opponents.
For example, the revised proposal tightened language regarding minors – a major source of contention for opponents two years ago – and now requires parental consent before doctors can recommend the marijuana treatment for children, something supporters of the amendment insist is already required by state law.
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Full Article: Voters Again Face Medical Marijuana Decision
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