Claim: “Because there’s no local option to allow communities to ban, limit or restrict the location of pot shops. If Amendment 2 passes you can expect the seedy elements of the pot industry to move in right next door to your neighborhood, your church, your business and even your child’s school,” an anti-Amendment 2 pamphlet warns.
That’s not so. The amendment language is very specific on key points in that assertion: “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.” The proposal also charges the Legislature and Florida Department of Health with spelling out specific details that implement medical marijuana – and that includes the number of cannabis dispensaries and their location. Since the state will regulate the centers, “seedy elements” is a transparent attempt at fear-mongering.
Amendment 2 was also designed to require the state to regulate marijuana production and distribution centers and issue identification cards for qualifying patients and caregivers, not just anyone.
While it’s true the amendment text does not make any provisions for local legislation, the Legislature would ultimately decide whether local jurisdictions could adopt ordinances to regulate dispensaries. County and city governments across the state are laying the groundwork for local ordinances, including Manatee County.
Manatee commissioners began the process Tuesday by setting December dates for the first two public hearings on an ordinance that places a 180-day moratorium on the establishment of dispensaries – a prudent response considering voter surveys show the amendment passing.
The measure was written to explicitly allow medical marijuana to treat patients with specific diseases: cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis or “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated.”
Does that last phrase open the door to abuse and cannabis for lesser conditions? Doctors must sign a “physician certification” of an individual’s need for medical cannabis for a debilitating condition only after conducting a physical exam and assessment of the patient’s medical history. Reputations and careers would be on the line for fraudulent physician recommendations.
Unlike the infamous pill mills where physicians both prescribed and sold pain medications and other narcotics freely and openly, only a regulated “Medical Marijuana Treatment Center” can produce and distribute medical cannabis, and qualifying patients and caregivers must carry state-issued identification cards, thus disqualifying out-of-state residents from coming to Florida to buy pot.
As previously stated, the Herald Editorial Board recommends a yes vote on this initiative.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: ‘Yes’ On Florida’s Medical Cannabis Amendment
Author: Staff
Contact: 941-748-0411
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Website: Bradenton Herald