Pubdate: Sun, 28 Sep 2014
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2014 Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/hdEs6Z0o
Website: http://www.tallahassee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444
Author: Matthew Dunagan
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n727/a05.html

A FEW MORE POINTS ON MARIJUANA

Re: "Not all officers are opposing medical marijuana" (My View, Sept. 3).

The Florida Sheriffs Association would like to respond to several 
inaccurate statements made by Ray Strack.

First, the sheriffs in Florida are indeed compassionate and 
understand the complexity of the issue, which is why the Florida 
Sheriffs Association supported the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act 
of 2014 (SB 1030). This new law now authorizes the cultivation, 
testing and distribution of a strain of low-THC marijuana to certain 
individuals with debilitating diseases. This strain will be delivered 
to patients in an oil-based format in order to provide medicinal 
value - without the effects of getting high.

Second, the sheriffs' efforts to inform the public on the dangers 
associated with smoked marijuana and the criminal activity associated 
with this drug are far from misguided. Sheriffs are not doctors, but 
their efforts in opposing Amendment 2 have been guided by the very 
doctors and medical professionals Strack claims to represent. The 
Florida Medical Association and numerous other health care groups 
have come out against

Third, it is a red herring for Strack to claim sheriffs oppose 
marijuana legalization on the grounds that it would negatively impact 
their budgets. Sheriffs are not appropriated funding to investigate 
one specific drug over another. A sheriff's duty is to ensure public 
safety with the funding allocated by the taxpayers in that county. 
Legalizing marijuana will not reduce a sheriff's budget.

Finally, the Institute of Medicine has reported that the future of 
medical marijuana "lies in its individual components" that can be 
separated and delivered in a nonsmoked manner. Having Florida create 
a crude system of cultivating, distributing and then allowing for 
smoked marijuana as medicine is a dangerous path - and one in which 
the sheriffs feel Florida should not follow. Simply put, the sheriffs 
see Amendment 2 is a ruse attempt to legalize marijuana, and they 
believe citizens have a right to know the facts before they vote.

MATTHEW DUNAGAN

Assistant executive director of operations, Florida Sheriffs Association
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom