Source: Reuters
Pubdate:  Wed, 21 Jan 1998

FLORIDA CABINET TO FIGHT MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROPOSAL

TALLAHASSEE. Fla. (Reuters) - Florida's governor and cabinet unanimously
vowed Wednesday to fight an attempt to amend the state's constitution to
legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The cabinet, made up of the governor, state attorney general and other
executive branch leaders, unanimously approved a resolution denouncing
efforts led by Floridians for Medical Rights, a Fort Lauderdale-based group
that wants to put the issue before Florida voters in November.

Proponents of the measure say that the drug is effective in treating a wide
variety of ailments and can ease the side effects of other medication.

Opponents have argued the call to allow medicinal use is simply a ploy
toward legalizing the drug across the board. "We are sending a convoluted
message to our children at a terrible time," Florida Department of Law
Enforcement Director Tim Moore told cabinet members. "We couldn't pick a
worse time to send this mixed message."

Betty Sembler, head of a group opposing legalized marijuana and based in
St. Petersburg, Florida, said her group would fight the petition before the
Florida Supreme Court. "We are forming grass roots organizations of
concerned citizens across the state to carry our message, the truth about
the so-called medical marijuana," Sembler said.  Voters in California and
Arizona approved measures legalizing marijuana for medicinal use in their
states last fall.

Similar petition drives are in progress in Missouri, Colorado, and
Washington, D.C.

The Florida petition would allow individuals to obtain and use marijuana
for specific medical purposes when certified as medically appropriate by a
licensed physician.

Toni Leeman, chairman of Floridians for Medical Rights, said she was
surprised to learn the resolution was passed without hearing from any
medical authority. "Marijuana has been used as a medicine for thousands of
years, but it's only in the past 60 years that it has been made illegal,"
Leeman said.

Her group is trying to collect the 45,000 signatures needed to trigger a
state Supreme Court review. The group then needs at least 428,000
signatures to get the proposal on the ballot.