Pubdate: Sun, 29 Dec 2013
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2013 The Tribune Co.
Contact: http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-letters/
Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446
Author: Kenneth Knight

MEDICAL MARIJUANA SUPPORTERS RALLY

TAMPA - A small but steady steam of people backing a petition to get
medical marijuana on the statewide ballot next year attended a music
and arts festival in Citrus Park on Saturday.

The event called "Beyond the Smoke" drew a cross-section of the Tampa
Bay community to The Dubliner Irish Pub at 12836 Henderson Road.

It was a gathering of young and old, and people of diverse
backgrounds, ethnicities and political beliefs from the Tampa Bay area
and beyond. They attended to promote the cause and collect more signatures.

United for Care and The Dubliner Irish Pub joined forces to sponsor
the event featuring local musicians, artists and vendors. United for
Care is leading the effort to collect enough signatures to place a
constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot next November.

Opponents of the effort say using marijuana can lead to use of more
harmful drugs They maintain the state's existing laws should stand.

The supporters, such as Charles Crites of Tampa's Southeast Seminole
Heights neighborhood and Alfred Robertson of Pasco County, both of
whom attended Saturday's event, called cannabis a highly misunderstood
"environmentally friendly plant."

They described cannabis and its by-product, hemp, as being
environmental safe and a potential economic windfall for the country.

"It should be for all sick people all over the world," said Dianne
Renusch, who identified herself as a Michigan resident. "It should be
legalized and decriminalized because they are arresting people who are
in pain."

People such as Christopher, a 23-year-old quadriplegic who said
marijuana eases the pain and spasms he endures as the result of being
shot in the neck during a home invasion in Town N' County five years
ago.

"If I didn't use cannabis, I couldn't move my body," said Christopher,
who asked that his last name be withheld because he fears being arrested.

Christopher said he was bedridden at a nursing home for four years
after he was shot. The pain and spasms made it difficult to move.

He tried using marijuana to ease the symptoms soon after he was
released, and it has given him a new outlook on life.

"Before I felt like I was just living; now I feel like I'm living
life," he said.

Christopher acknowledges he was traumatized by his disability, but the
possibility of being labeled a criminal for using a natural substance
"made by God" is overwhelming, he said.

"People like me are stuck being criminals" because marijuana use is
illegal in Florida, he said.

Organizers said they have gathered more than 700,000 signatures needed
to put the amendment before voters.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D