For millions of families, including those in our own Florida communities, a drug-fueled pattern of devastation and heartbreak has become a painful part of life. Too many of our loved ones are losing their struggle with heroin and other addictive substances. The facts are sobering. Thousands of Americans die each year from heroin, the most addictive drug on the planet. In Florida, heroin overdose deaths have increased 900 percent in recent years, rising from 48 in 2010 to 447 in 2014.

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The Tampa City Council should approve an ordinance that favors civil citations over arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana. The council gave its initial endorsement to the rule last week and should give final authorization when the issue comes up for a vote later this month.

There is no need to create potentially life-altering criminal records over minor infractions for people who could use a second chance.

Council members voted 6-1 on Thursday to allow people caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana to receive a civil citation and pay a fine rather than face jail time. Under the proposal, the first infraction would cost offenders $75. Subsequent offenses would rack up fines of $150, $300 and $450. If the council grants final approval and Mayor Bob Buckhorn backs the effort as expected, it could take effect as soon as April.

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Marijuana is on the march in Florida.

Volusia County made it legal to carry small amounts last week.

South Florida counties did it last year.

Tampa is preparing to do it next week.

Even Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is looking at the issue.

Plus, a statewide campaign to legalize medical marijuana appears poised to pass this fall.

Heck, this state's beginning to look like one big Grateful Dead show.

Really, though, all this has little to do with Floridians being eager to get high and more to do with taxpayers - and law-enforcement officers - being sick of wasting tax dollars and judicial resources on small-time possession charges that often get dropped or reduced anyway.

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TALLAHASSEE - A measure allowing terminally ill patients to use fullstrength marijuana in the last year of their lives is now before Gov. Rick Scott.

Following emotional testimony Monday, the state Senate approved the legislation (CS/HB 307) on a 28-11 vote. It cleared the House 99-16 last week.

Scott, though, has been described as "iffy" on the measure by lawmakers close to the issue.

The bill would allow marijuana to be included as an experimental drug under a state law which allows doctors to order not fully approved medication for patients expected to die within a year.

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TALLAHASSEE (AP) - Florida's latest medical-marijuana legislation is headed to Gov. Rick Scott. The Senate on Monday approved a House version of a bill (HB 307) that expands the use of the Right to Try Act, allowing the use of medical marijuana of all strengths for patients with terminal conditions. The bill, which passed 28-11, also adds regulations to the framework of the state's nascent cannabis industry covered by the 2014 Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act. Most of the debate on the Senate floor dealt with concerns about the regulatory and economic structures.

[end]

Usually, when Americans think about the idea of officers of the law confiscating property with no warrant, trial or conviction they come up with two things: tin-pot dictatorships and dystopian movies.

Unfortunately for Floridians, they should also think about their own legal code.

This is what a controversial legal process is all about - property confiscation on the spot.

Civil asset forfeiture is the practice of taking someone's property based solely on the suspicion of a crime. The property is seized by the police on the spot and will then go directly into the pockets of the agency who made the confiscation. It may sound ridiculous, but after decades of use, police departments now take advantage of profits from taking people's stuff in order to pad their budgets.

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This letter is a response to Mike McLeod's Feb. 20 letter.

Imagine you have traumatic brain injury, back injury and leg reconstruction. Imagine being in constant, debilitating pain where everyday routines prove impossible to manage. Imagine not being able to care for your children in the way you desire and they deserve.

Imagine being tethered to oxycodone and morphine for any relief, only to endure side effects which make you rethink the pain relief. Imagine living with no true quality of life.

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Val Camarillo reached into her bag of potato chips, looked out the open tent flap and watched as Okeechobee County Sheriff's deputies moved in.

Camarillo, 22, of Fort Myers, and her two friends David Wilson, 21, and Missy Salomon, 20, have been watching as people receive citations and get arrested at the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival in Okeechobee.

Their tent, along with a slew of others', are located directly behind a makeshift substation for the Sheriff's Office-which has brought those nearby an endless supply of entertainment.

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It is disheartening to see the Tampa City Council move ahead with a risky plan to decriminalize marijuana use.

The council voted 6-1 Thursday to support an ordinance to issue only civil citations for possession of 20 grams or less of pot. Mayor Bob Buckhorn has indicated he supports the measure, so it's likely to go into effect soon after council gives it a second hearing on March 17.

We respect the council's concerns, but this overly lenient plan is likely to lead to more drug abuse and crime.

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Bill Lets Terminal Patients Use Full-Strength Marijuana.

TALLAHASSEE - Nearly two years after passing a law to allow limited types of medical marijuana, the Florida House on Thursday approved a more far-reaching plan that would let terminally ill patients have access to full-strength pot.

The plan (HB 307 and HB 1313) also would revamp the 2014 law, which has been bogged down in legal challenges over the selection of nurseries to get potentially lucrative contracts. Many House members pointed during a debate Thursday to how medical marijuana could help suffering patients.

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Volusia on Thursday became the first county in Central Florida to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

The County Council by a unanimous 7-0 vote gave law officers the discretion to ticket tokers who possess 20 grams of the drug or less. Instead of being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, violators would be fined $100.

"The only thing we learned from the war on drugs is that it didn't work," County Council member Josh Wagner said. "All it did was fill the jails."

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Possession of Up to 20 Grams Would Be a Civil Citation

TAMPA - Despite concerns it does not do enough to deter repeat offenders, the Tampa City Council on Thursday voted for a new law that lowers the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil citation.

Council members voted 6-1 to adopt the law, which gives city police the option to issue a civil citation for possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana, roughly three quarters of an ounce.

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Mike McLeod's statements in his Feb. 20 letter "don't allow the smoking of medical marijuana in Florida amendment proposal," regarding cannabis (marijuana) are seriously incorrect, claiming it's "just as bad or worse" than tobacco. Cigarettes kill over 1,000 Americans daily while cannabis hasn't killed one single person in over 5,000 years of documented use. That's safety on a biblical scale.

Alleging the only reason people want to smoke cannabis is to get high is equally misinformed. Many sick citizens prefer smoking cannabis, not to get high but rather desperately seeking relief from cancer, chronic pain, etc. They often wish to avoid strong, highly addictive opiates, which often makes them dysfunctional. Smoking cannabis can also help quicker, allowing people to use only a small amount as needed.

A sane or moral argument to cage sick citizens who smoke cannabis doesn't exist.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

In 35 states and Washington, D.C., you soon will be able to go into a Walgreens and get naloxone, the heroin overdose antidote, without a prescription.

But not in Florida, where heroin is hitting with deadly impact.

CVS is another major pharmacy that is increasing its supplies of naloxone, often sold as the prescription drug Narcan. CVS, too, will be selling it widely in 35 states. In 14 of those states, including New York, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the chain will be providing it to patients without an individual prescription. Not Florida. Heroin deaths have soared in this state: from 48 in 2010 to 447 in 2014. And our area is arguably the epidemic's epicenter. A startling seven people have died of suspected heroin overdoses this month in West Palm Beach, bringing the total to 11 deaths since December, police reported Wednesday. At this time last year, there were none.

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Regarding "Sanctioning drug use in Tampa" (Our Views, Feb. 20): The Tribune gives too much credit to the drug and too little to the process (of prohibition). It is impossible to stamp out anything that millions of Americans want, and trying harder causes more societal damage than it prevents. Our elected leaders are torn between wanting to ease off on possession arrests, but not so much that marijuana use increases. It can't be done, and it's better to know that now.

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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd's recent published opposition to proposed legislation to curtail Florida's Contraband Forfeiture Act is right on target. Those of us who were in law enforcement in the 1980s worked hard to amend the law in 1982 to allow an attorney representing an agency to file a forfeiture petition in circuit civil court. This has resulted in criminals not only paying their dues to society in criminal court, but also losing any instrument used to further the criminal activity in civil court procedures pursuant to the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. A win-win for local and state law enforcement.

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Stockbroker Who Smokes Pot for Pain Relief Says Latest Referendum Not Enough.

Irvin Rosenfeld believes the latest attempt to legalize medical marijuana in Florida will pass. But he doesn't believe it does enough. He wants everyone to be able to grow their own pot. Not for partying. For medicine.

The Boca Raton stockbroker knows all about it. He turns 63 on Friday. For a third of his life, he's smoked up to 10 joints a day for which he doesn't pay. Your taxes do.

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In response to the Feb. 14 Bradenton Herald editorial "Surrendering control on medical marijuana," I hope and pray this legislation to allow people to "smoke" marijuana for so-called medical purposes never passes.

What needs to be passed is legislation allowing for the "pill" or "oil" that contains the medical support that comes from marijuana. The only reason people want to smoke marijuana is to get high!

This would be detrimental to our society and to our youth growing up. There is simply no reason to allow our society to get high on marijuana when the ingredients in cannabis can be issued by a medical doctor in the form of a "pill" or "oil" prescriptions.

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Pilot Study in Tampa Will Mean Citations for 20 Grams or Less

TAMPA - While Tampa pushes ahead with civil citations for possession of small amounts of marijuana, a plan to give the same break to juveniles caught with the drug also is in the works.

Under a planned yearlong pilot program, juveniles found in possession of small amounts of marijuana, 20 grams or less, no longer will be arrested but will instead be cited and required to attend a drug treatment program.

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Tampa City Council is playing with fire with a plan to decriminalize marijuana use.

Don't be surprised if local drug abuse explodes if the council approves the measure to issue only civil citations for possession of 20 grams or less of pot

Passage of the ordinance seems assured. The council voted 6-0 Thursday to hold an initial public hearing March 3 on the measure, which would go into effect after a second public hearing. Only Councilman Charlie Miranda seems skeptical.

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