Bill Filed To Allow Medical Marijuana In Florida

February 28, 2013

Qualified patients would be able to posses and use medical marijuana for treatment of certain conditions, as long as they have a registry ID card from state officials, under a bill filed Wednesday by a Senate Democrat.

The measure (SB 1250) also would allow for licensed medical canabis farms and dispensaries. Under the bill, filed by Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, the maximum amount of medical pot a patient or caregiver could possess would be 4 ounces of dried medical canabis or eight pot plants, though state officials could change those amounts through the rulemaking process.

The measure, named for Cathy Jordan, who suffers from ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, comes a day after Manatee County sheriff’s officials said they raided Jordan’s home and seized 23 marijuana plants.

A sheriff’s spokesman said the raid came after a real estate agent alleged Jordan was using a neighboring property’s electricity, and had nothing to do with the planned filing of the bill named for her.

By The News Service of Florida

Comments

16 Responses to “Bill Filed To Allow Medical Marijuana In Florida”

  1. David Huie Green on March 2nd, 2013 4:12 pm

    REGARDING:
    “Although it has medicinal purposes, most of the criminals in jail are there for charges against Marijuana.”

    NOPE

    Per our friends at the ACLU:
    http://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/marijuana-law-reform

    “Drug offenders comprise over 500,000 of the more than 2 million people in our nation’s prisons and jails, and drug offenses and failed drug tests account for a significant number of those returning to prison for parole and probation violations. “

    500,000/2,000,000=¼
    One fourth is NOT most.
    Also, they’re talking about ALL drugs, including heroin, meth, crack whatever‘s popular.

    Unless you’re paranoid about trusting the Department of Justice under President Obama, you can turn to:
    http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/press/p11pr.cfm

    At the state level, which is what would apply here since jails are at state level, same as state prisons:
    “In 2010 (the most recent data available) 53 percent of sentenced state prisoners were serving time for a violent offense, 18 percent for property offenses, 17 percent for drug crimes and 10 percent for public order offenses, such as weapons, drunk driving, commercialized vice [hookers-dhg] and court offenses [irritating the judge-dhg.]”

    At the federal level:
    “Inmates sentenced for drug offenses comprised 48 percent [high but less than “most“ -dhg] (94,600 inmates) of the sentenced federal prison population in 2011, while 7.6 percent of federal prisoners were held for violent offenses. An estimated 11 percent (22,100 inmates) were serving time in federal prison for immigration offenses.”

    I think I’ve long made it clear I don’t oppose legalizing all drugs and only prosecuting crimes committed by drug users without accepting the “I was drunk” or “I was doped up” defense. BUT let’s be honest with our numbers rather than acting like the prisons would be empty if only marijuana were legal.

    David for clear minds and truth

  2. mom on March 2nd, 2013 8:35 am

    GUESS EVERYONE WILL BE MOVING TO FLORIDA SOON…LAND AND HOMEOWNERS, YOU CAN PROBABLY NAME YOUR PRICE!

  3. john dykhuizen on March 1st, 2013 12:31 pm

    Florida state laws have traditionally lagged behind other states when it comes to common sense. We’re still locking people up in Polk County for small amounts of marijuana.All for the sake of what? safety? We know how many people died last year from alcohol and tobacco ….wonder why the same lawmakers arent outlawing those substances…mmmm could it be income over peoples lives? Well folks,when the head of the DEA is on record as saying that marijuana is just as dangerous as cocaine or heroin,its no wonder why peoples imaginations spiral out of controll.(By the way,your typical 5th grader knows better than that) Last but not least…we have a president who has ok’d the infiltration of 11,000,000 aliens in our country,because he says popular vote dictates such. Hes stopped the ban on gay marriage because he says the majority of Americans feel its right . We have a president who SMOKED MARIJUANA REGULARLY…and KNOWS its essentially harmless,and YES, THE MAJORITY of AMERICANS of voter age FAVOR THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA…….MAN UP PRES….DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!!!!!!

  4. john on March 1st, 2013 8:13 am

    Ive held a legitimate debate with this whole week with 20 intelligent, non bias, individuals on the topic.

    Legalization of medicinal cannabis will have positive And negitive effects.

    But marijuana can be a controlled substance, used for thousands of years, with many medicinal properties. (even though some dont think it has medicinal properties.) But it CAN view cancer with more scientific advancements. Also It helps with many diseases in All ages from young to old. Even children could use it for a natural treatments, in minimal amounts. It was even proven that babys are safe that are born while the mother used cannabis during the whole pregnancy. Production of the plant grows easily And could help benefit the economy by taxation And distrubution.

    Altho it has medicinal purposes, most of the criminals in jail are there for charges against Marijuana. Wether it was a few joints, or 25 plants. The police force would be outweighed if they dont longer arrest for marijuana. so the police force would lose money for Not Being able to make those arrests. Some people believe that you can get addicted to marijuana, that is Not the correct case. BUT there are people that become dependant on marijuana, just like you can any other substances. Also that tobacco smokers inhale more of the tobacco longer if smoking with marijuana, causing more lung damage to those Who use both tobacco And cannabis.

  5. Jane on March 1st, 2013 3:36 am

    Many of the perscription drugs we take for different diseases have some serious side effects. If you don’t believe that just look at the information that comes with any drug, whether it is an antibiotic or for bllod pressure, etc. I am not sure how they plan to regulate this, so I won’t make any judgements until I have more information.

  6. huh on February 28th, 2013 8:07 pm

    Its about time, the question is are people forward thinking enough to approve it? When you are sick you take medicine that was created in a lab, but yet marijuana is not legal. Its all natural, we take plenty of all natural supplements to help other issues , why not use our natural medicines?

    A lot of the elderly could benefit from this

  7. High Society on February 28th, 2013 2:15 pm

    Dude! This is freakin’ awesome! I can’t wait to…uh…what were we talking about?

  8. cygie on February 28th, 2013 12:25 pm

    So then marijuana has no negative health aspects to it? We allow alcohol and tobacco to be sold openly, as long as taxes are collected. And…..you don’t think that a iberal administration would seize every firearm given the chance? An unarmed populace cannot defend itself against the govt.

  9. Bob on February 28th, 2013 11:10 am

    Take away our guns and allow drugs to become legal? Nobody in Florida is trying to take away guns first of all. And Cannabis is a plant, not some synthetic drug that can kill you like all of the other already legal otc and prescribed medication. Cannabis is completely safe. Just because you don’t agree with it does not mean people should be felons because they choose to use the most useful plant since the peanut.

  10. Bradley on February 28th, 2013 11:03 am

    Thank god, I have been waiting for this for a long time!

  11. Mark on February 28th, 2013 10:51 am

    You are right @Don!

    And alcohol and cigarettes (both which have DOCUMENTED adverse health effects….and did you know alcoholism is a “recognized disability”?) remain legal and easily attainable.

    This is what cracked me up with the “Spice” issue…

    “Spice” was legal. However when some people got sick off of it, people immediately panicked and we had to BAN this dangerous drug.

    And yet, alcohol, and cigarettes who have documented records of causing MILLIONS of deaths, can be bought at Winn Dixie or your corner store.

    Lawmakers are nothing but hypocrites because of this. You cannot deny the numbers, and yet no law makers do anything to stop it.

  12. don on February 28th, 2013 7:56 am

    it improves the quality of life if you have a medical condition that canabis treats, e.g., ALS, Lou Gehrig’s amound others. it’s past time. however, i suspect the lobby $’s from the correctional system and the pill producters will buy off our ‘citizen representatives’ to kill it.

  13. cygie on February 28th, 2013 7:19 am

    So take away our firearms and allow drugs to become legal? Explain how this improves the quality of life.

  14. bill on February 28th, 2013 7:05 am

    It’s about time! While they are at it they should allow farmers to grow hemp for the fibers and seed oil. It is the most important industrial crop available (rope, clothes, etc.) and it needs no fertilizer or insecticides to grow. You might not think canabis is medicine but my big book on Chinese Medicine lists several conditions that the Chinese have always prescribed canabis products for those treatments.

  15. 429SCJ on February 28th, 2013 6:52 am

    The good side is it would be more convenient for the ailing, increased state and county tax revenues.

    The down side is the economic impact on local producer/wholesalers and retailers,
    loss of fines and probation fees to LE.

    Im 6 of 1, .5 dz of the other on this one. The flow continues either way.

  16. dan-o on February 28th, 2013 2:12 am

    Well, it’s about time that someone in state government proposes a bill that actually makes sense. This is one step closer in the right direction to get this all natural plant completely legalized all together.

    Sadly, though, I have my doubts that even the medical usage bill will ever be passed in a state like this one, in the heart of the bible-belt. Think about this for just a minute. Do any of you think that there would be a market for spice or bath salts if we could get these bills passed? Of course there wouldn’t be. You would probably never hear of these manufactured synthetics again.

    Maybe one day, some of you will open your eyes & realize that the revenue & taxes generated from this is probably the easiest way to get the economy back on track.

    Some of you, however, will never get it. It’s just an “evil gateway drug (placed on this earth by your god-according to your belief that he created all PLANTS & animals) and has no good use whatsoever.” That’s very typical. Just keep that mentality while you sit back with your Natural Light and read about the latest DUI accident that killed someone’s child.

    If you don’t think this is the way most people around here think, read some responses to this post, and watch them prove my point.