TALLAHASSEE, Fl — Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth) has filed Florida’s first-ever bill seeking to legalize the medical use of cannabis.
House Joint Resolution 1407 calls for the legislature to place the measure on the ballot for all Floridians to be able to weigh in on the issue.
A recent poll by Gov. Rick Scott’s pollster found that nearly 60 percent of Floridians support the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Clemens said:
There is no good reason for us to allow people to use synthetic drugs like oxycontin, methodone, percocet, and Prozac, but ban them from using a natural, safer drug. Study after study has shown that the use of medicinal cannabis can help those suffering from debilitating diseases. Who could be against that?”
Several health care professionals and people with debilitative conditions joined Representative Clemens on Thursday during a press conference announcing the legislation.
Among the participants was Cathy Jordan, 60, of Bradenton. She has lived with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease for 25 years and she says cannabis helps her manage the disease. Jordan said:
Cannabis is a neuro-protector, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory. I am here today to help patients and the families of patients with neuromuscular diseases and brain disorders to educate themselves on cannabis.
The bill calls for medicinal cannabis to be used only under certain conditions, including the prescription of the drug by a physician, the diagnosis of a debilitating condition, and restriction of use to places that are not “in plain view of, or in a place open to, the general public.
It also states that insurance companies are not required to cover medicinal cannabis, and that employers are not required to accommodate use in the workplace.
Fifteen other states have already passed variations of Rep. Clemens’ proposal. It has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in new private industry revenue and millions of dollars in state tax revenue.
But the true focus of the bill is providing natural relief to people who are dealing with difficult medical issues.
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UFPYA
Netcraft rank: 7029 http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://rightardia.blogspot.com
Rightardia by Rightard Whitey of Rightardia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at rightardia@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment