Cutting Through the Fog (Prelude)

It is a beautiful, foggy Florida morning. Driving across from the east to the west coast, it almost seems as if the fog is lifting with the morning sun immediately ahead of my headlights. Doesn't seem so foggy where I am, but just up ahead, it seems like pea soup.

We are seeking to inform veterans -- many of whom we strongly believe could benefit from the use of marijuana for a variety of ailments, including post traumatic stress, cancer, and other neurological disorders -- that cannabis is being legally and effectively used by veterans in other states.

The policy of the Veterans Administration on cannabis, while good for veterans in legal states, is one of exclusion. As my friend Al Byrne puts it, VA is practicing treatment by geography. They allow the use of cannabis in courses of treatment in 20 states, but it is disallowed and grounds for removal of pain medication in the other 30 states where it is not legal to consume cannabis, an inhumane policy when you consider that the purpose of using cannabis in many of these cases is to reduce the amount of debilitating medication they need to effectively manage their pain.

Today is day three of the tour, and I join the gang at the Bay Pines VA Medical Center. Our goal this week is to get information in the hands of veterans. There will be legislation and ballot initiatives to consider this year in Florida, and we need to make sure that our veterans and our Veterans Administrations are prepared for it. 

Most importantly, everyone involved needs to understand how urgent the matter is. We cannot wait for the FDA. We cannot wait for the DEA. We cannot wait for the NIDA. We can barely even wait for the Florida Legislature to act. Allowing the charade of Reefer Madness to continue hurts our veterans in ways we have only begun to calculate.

Office Opening soon, check it out

The grand opening is approaching faster than we could have imagined. Even though we are still weeks from the July 14, 2013 Grand Opening we are already seeing a steady stream of worker bees visiting the office, completing tasks and helping establish FLCAN’s place in the community.

Here is a short video showing how the office is coming together and thanking the folks who helped.

We are really excited about the roster of programs and activities planned for the office. If you are already out talking publicly about the need to change Florida cannabis laws, we want you in the Network. United we are invincible.

Here is a webpage where you can see what we need and how you can still help to get the office ready.

What’s Next for FLCAN

Even though lawmakers did not take up the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act in 2013, Florida CAN isn’t daunted or distracted from our mission. We are more determined than ever to see safe, therapeutic access to cannabis for people in Florida.

You can check out our reports about the legislative session but in short it was exciting, eye opening and encouraging. One southwest Florida lawmaker started our meeting by saying he KNEW cannabis was Safer than alcohol. A second owns a nursery business, he knows cannabis is an up and coming market and he wants in too. The battle was half won – at least they know the truth and for some of them its important. Now, getting them to act on the truth… another in a series of challenging things for CAN to accomplish.

For now, Florida CAN is ready for the next chapter.

The addition of Florida trial attorney, John Morgan, onto the list of Floridians actively working to change cannabis laws puts Florida squarely on course for some sort of legal medical cannabis scheme. Whether through an act of the Feds, through our state legislature or by popular vote in November 2014, legal medical access is coming to Florida.

To support the efforts of Floridians to change cannabis laws, we took a lease on a wonderful office just west of US 1 in Melbourne, FL. We need help now getting the place ready for the public. You can follow our progress here on our blog, on this page dedicated to opening the office, on our website or on Facebook.

Whether it is a gathering place for training, a collection site for petitions, a workspace for talented writers, graphic artists, would be video producers or a fun place to host a Sunday members-only pot-luck dinner, the office is going to be a great addition to the Florida reform efforts.

Our soft opening is June 19.  By the soft opening, we plan to have programs in place, jobs for volunteers and an idea what hours make sense for our volunteers and staff. We hope the public will embrace our July 14 grand opening. Our grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 12:30 July 14. We hope you’ll mark your calendar and make an extra effort to be counted among the faithful who will see cannabis safe, legal and available in Florida.

Where are We Now?

Day 42 of the 60 day Legislative Session brings a sense of anticipation. Last week four Republican Representatives said if the Florida Medical Association won’t get on board; we should go for legalization and they would support a system of regulation and control!

To those who have taken the time this legislative session to send an e-mail or make a phone call, I cannot thank you enough. Being so close to the process, spending every day in Tallahassee listening to the lawmakers, it is easy to see how much of a difference you are making. Lawmakers are getting the message loud and clear. Incoming Speaker Crisafulli assures me that reforming cannabis policy is a conversation happening at the highest level of Florida government.

The legislative process is slow and cumbersome. Just like it takes time to change the direction of a great ship; so it is with the moving the great state of Florida. I have come to believe this group of elected officials in Tallahassee is ready to right the wrongs of their predecessors, but it is a slow going. Nowhere is the law of unintended consequences more strongly felt then in cannabis policies; and many of our lawmakers get it. Where the intent may have been to protect the most vulnerable; the reality is those who could most use access to cannabis are made fodder for the criminal justice system.

Florida CAN has made the case for sensible reforms before the decision makers in our state. We have brought an incredible cast of characters to Tallahassee to speak on your behalf– and we are not done yet! This week, The Black Tuna Robert Platshorn, host of “Should Grandma Smoke Pot?” is joining me for a day at the Capitol.

Over the past weeks we have introduced lawmakers to senior citizens Cathy Jordan, Bob Jordan, John Chase, and Frank Dougherty. Most people have heard the story of Cathy Jordan, but few recognize the sacrifice Bob made in Vietnam. In March, Bob and Frank spent several days walking point for veterans in Florida. Florida is home to 1.6 million veterans. The VA – the only federal agency that practices medicine – has a directive allowing the use of cannabis where lawful under state statutes. John Chase of Pinellas has studied the harms of alcohol prohibition and used his time in Tallahassee to talk about the harms associated with this policy of prohibition.

Neill Franklin of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition joined FLCAN staff at the Capitol March 19th. Neill was on a two-week tour of Florida speaking about the unintended consequences of prohibition. Also representing sensible cannabis policies in Tallahassee that week was Ethel Rowland – woman of many hats; Jeff Borg – ACLU Board of Directors and Eric Stevens - FLCAN’s legislative liaison. Ethel and Eric bring great drug policy credentials to the table. Eric, a south Florida activist, was trained by American’s for Safe Access to advocate for cannabis reform. Ethel is a seasoned activist artist who uses her time and talent to expose the consequences of prohibition.

When we asked supporters to reach out to Representative Roberson, Chair of the House Quality Sub-Committee, more than a 1,000 of our supporters responded. Though he ultimately ran out of time for the workshop, when we cornered Representative Roberson he said if he had done a workshop on the “Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act” that would have been the only thing reported that day. While it works for me, apparently, what Representative Roberson is doing was bigger than our need for safe, legal access to cannabis without fear of a jail cell.

This past week, we asked you to write Senator Bean and encourage his committee to host a workshop to hear expert testimony on therapeutic access to cannabis. The Senator was on board to workshop the bill when President of the Senate, Don Gaetz, – Republican from Niceville, added a number of bills to the committee, putting ours off the agenda!

What did Don Gaetz think is more important than making sure people who may lose their life or their senses have access to cannabis? One bill making its way through the legislature deals with what color you can dye baby chicks at Easter.

Last week was a tipping point in the minds of many Florida lawmakers. Irv Rosenfeld, one of four surviving patients who receive cannabis from the Federal Government joined Cathy Jordan and the FLCAN team in Tallahassee. Tony Clymer of the Silver Tour and NORML of Florida was part of our team walking door-to-door with Eric Stevens, Cathy Jordan, Irv Rosenfeld and myself.

With the prosecutor accepting Cathy has a medical need for cannabis even lawmakers are beginning to wonder how we can continue to give cannabis to one man, Irv and deny it to Cathy.
There are still rules that will allow the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act to go to the floor for a vote this year, but the changes are slim. Once in a while, the long shot wins and we all love to watch the story unfold.

Even as I write, several opportunities still exist for us to pass a bill this session that will allow safe access to cannabis before November of 2013. Patients out of time cannot wait another year for lawmakers to find the will or voters to pass a constitutional amendment; they need access now without fear of arrest. Rest assured, FLCAN will continue to explore every avenue available to assure that those you love have access to this plant.

We invite those who want to be sure we get access to therapeutic cannabis to do more than just wait for someone else to act. FLCAN has provided you with all the tools you need to pass a resolution of support in your home town or county. Passing resolutions of support in Florida puts pressure on the state to create safe access but it also puts pressure on the Federal Government to untie the hands of the states hesitant to step outside federal guidelines on cannabis.

FLCAN has one more opportunity to move decision makers into championing our cause. Friday, April 19, 2013 the Republican Party of Florida is hosting a walk to raise money for the cure to ALS – Lou Gehrig ’s disease. For three months, Cathy has been a living, breathing example of a patient who may have a key to the cure.

You can be part of the historic opportunity to energize leaders of the Republican Party to take the steps necessary to give patients access to cannabis now! They can remove the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act from its committees of reference and send it to the Floor. It requires the will of the President of the Senate and Speak of the House to happen- they will not do this if they think it is safe to ignore this issue.

If enough people come forward demanding access to cannabis there is one last tactic the leadership can use to grant us immunity from prosecution while we create a system that allows therapeutic access. Lawmakers can create a committee bill that will strike cannabis from section 893 of the Florida Statute.

Everyone who can read knows cannabis does not belong in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act. This is it, with only days to go, activate your phone tree, share our messages with friends and keep those calls and letters coming!

This year I’ve raised the battle cry from Key West to Pensacola- “No surrender, no retreat” we are right and the people need us to stay the course. Victory is ours….




Jodi James, Executive Director

FLCAN continues to fight the good fight. Will you dig deep and make a contribution today to assure we can be a leading voice in creating responsible cannabis policies for Florida?

HB 1139 and SB 1250, The Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act

Status of the Bills

HB 1139

Introduced and Referred to Committees:

·         Health Quality Subcommittee

·         Business & Professional Regulation Subcommittee

·         Appropriations Committee

·         Health & Human Services Committee

SB 1250

Introduced and Referred to Committees:

·         Committees: Health Policy (HP)

·         Judiciary (JU)

·         Criminal Justice (CJ)

·         Appropriations (AP)

What YOU CAN Do

·         Help the bill get a fair hearing in its committees. Call the leadership of both chambers and the committees to which the bills are currently assigned.

·         Call the chairman of the Health Policy Senate Committee:

Senator Aaron Bean, (850) 487-5004.

·         Call Representative Ken Roberson’s office, chairman of the Health Quality House Subcommittee: (850) 717-5075

·         Have the bill pushed through committee or heard in the General Assembly

·         Contact the Senate President Don Gaetz and tell him why we need this bill: (850) 487-5001

·         Contact the Speaker of the House Will Weatherford and tell him why this bill should be heard on the floor of the house: (850) 717-5038.

·         Sign on for Actoin Alerts at http://www.flcan.org.

What CAN Happen

Authorizing a qualifying patient to possess and administer medical cannabis, and possess and use paraphernalia for a specified purpose, etc. as of this year, if the bill passes. If the bill gets a hearing this year, then we can expect it to go much farther next year, with an even greater chance of passing..

Bipartisan Support

Medical cannabis has the support of all parties because anyone has the potential to need this medicine, and nearly everyone knows someone who could benefit or who could have benefited from this medicine.

Onerous and Daunting

Funny how after you’ve done this long enough, any crack in the wall seems like a major breakthrough. Many years ago, Rob Kampia made it very clear that MPP would never spend a penny to make cannabis legal in Florida. Rob said Florida was onerous. He wasn’t entirely wrong. Those who know Florida politics understand that we have 11 distinct media markets, and what plays in Boca has no business in Apalachicola.

This week, our work in Tallahassee was really successful. More and more the decision makers know it isn’t a question of “if” medical cannabis will happen, but “when.”

Florida Cannabis Action Network went out on a limb this session and rented a furnished apartment in Tallahassee. The apartment more than pays for itself; but only if we keep bringing in advocates from around the state to talk to their lawmakers and peers. This week John from Palm Harbor joined us.

John is closer to 80 than 70, but he made the four plus hour trip to Tallahassee alone. He tried to bring two different patients with him. One was hospitalized in the days prior to the trip. The second, fear kept him at home, fear of coming out of the closet, fear of being persecuted – just fear.

But John came, because he knows how hard it is for sick people to make the trip. At nearly 80 years old he has realized someone must speak for these patients who have so much to lose by exposing themselves.

Last week, a staffer looked at our bill and said, “Wow, this is daunting.”

Daunting? I think to myself, that is better than onerous, so I’m having a “You’ve come a long way, baby” moment.

But at the end of the day, this perfectly healthy person who we pay to do big things has a lot of nerve calling doing her job daunting. Daunting, daunting. What do you call an 80 year old man driving all the way to Tallahassee to speak for those who can not speak for themselves? What do you call get out of bed every day knowing that your future means never a pain free day? What do you call looking down the barrel of a gun to defend your country, then coming home missing a piece of your body or soul?


Florida CAN has been asking people to do what they can to make cannabis reform happen, we provide you with tools, but it is up to you to make this thing happen. Lawmakers may think this is daunting, but creating sensible policies is their job. If your life without cannabis might be considered challenging, or daunting, maybe even onerous, please, call your representatives office, tell them your story and stand next to your friend when they make the call. Together, we can make light work of a onerous, but worthwhile, task.

The 900 Pound Gorilla in the Room

So here we are, over 40 years since the passage of the Federal Controlled Substance Act and the overriding moral of the story seems to be prohibition still doesn’t work. About 10 years ago, when I was working with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a friend and I were working around the clock to help people understand the failures of prohibition. We sat in room after room with people working on the ancillary issues caused by prohibition. We felt it was easy to see the real damage was created by prohibition and the rest were symptoms. We called prohibition the 900 pound gorilla in the room that no one wanted to discuss.

In an e-mail exchange today a new ally called prohibition the dead elephant in the room. In a Republican led legislature we don’t take stabs at elephants, but none the less ….

Whether you want to call it a dead 900 pound gorilla or a dead elephant the metaphor is working for me. I like the idea that we have gone from a big, damn beast – screeching – terrifying and something no one wanted to face, to a carcass. A stinking mess even. So how do you get a dead gorilla out of the middle of a room, unfortunately the answer may be – one piece at a time.

I’ve never been much of an incrementalist. I worked with cops calling for the end of prohibition and when you look at the likes of Al Capone and the corruption laid out in shows like the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, you have to look twice at prohibition. But prohibition is a huge beast.

Our medical cannabis bill in the Florida House and Senate isn’t perfect, but it begins the process of cutting the dead gorilla into manageable pieces. Even I had no idea how illegal cannabis is in Florida. Statute after statute makes cannabis a little more illegal. So while HB 1139 and SB 1250 are only talking about medical access to cannabis and does nothing for the 40,000 people arrested in Florida for under 20 grams of cannabis, it does takes patients out of the criminal justice system and that is a good place to start.

We need good policies. We want cannabis policies that increase public safety, protect patients and provide the public with piece of mind. We need the stinking beast out of the room and we can do this, even if it means tackling the beast one piece at a time.





Day 8 of the legislative session
52 days left to bring safe, legal access to Florida in 2013.

Drugs can't surrender

Nearly ten years ago my husband and I attended a presentation by Cato Fellow, Sanho Tree. Sanho had been studying US eradication efforts in South America. The presentation to a classroom full of University ofCentral Florida NORML students was a frank discussion of the havoc our drug problem was wreaking on native populations. 

Sanho talked at length about the War on Drugs but tonight, one of his observations echoes in my mind. 

If this is a War on Drugs and the drugs can’t surrender, how we will we ever work out an exit strategy?

We’ve been in Tallahassee for a month now, two weeks during committee hearings, a week when lawmakers were at home and last week, the first week of session. From the moment the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate gaveled the session open, the legislature was on the move. On the agenda, everything but an exit strategy for the war on drugs and safe, legal access to cannabis.

If we want sensible drug policy on the agenda this year, we need the seven out of ten Floridians who support medical cannabis to do more than just nod in agreement. We need a division of letter writers, tossing Letters to the Editor to every paper in the state. We need skilled wordsmiths to hone their material and head out to the city council meeting to battle for a resolution supporting legal access to cannabis for patients in Florida. 

If you live in the panhandle, know someone in Niceville or can find a good way to reach out to people who live in President of the Senate, Senator Don Gaetz’s district we need you to put boots on the ground. We need to take hearts and minds in those rural counties between Panama City and Pensacola. The heart of North Florida is home to the man who holds the fate of our patients in his hand. Until Senator Gaetz and Speaker of the House Will Weatherford are properly motivated to move on reforming cannabis then simply will let another year pass. 

The drugs can’t surrender and neither can we. Patients need access to the best medicine and in many cases, the best medicine is cannabis. Where do you stand in the War on Drugs? There are many things you can do to help, but nothing helps more than a person visit to your state lawmakers office. Learn who your lawmaker is by clicking here.

Calling to register your support for the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act (SB 1250 in the Senate and HB 1139 in the House) is really important and if you have a phone tree of friends, encourage them to call too. 

The battle cry – no surrender, no retreat.

Day 7 of the legislative session

53 Days remaining to provide safe legal access in Florida

Do you like Politics?

Here it is - time to be back in Tallahassee and that means, in part, the discipline of letting supporters know what we’re doing while we are here.

In preparation for the legislative session, I went to the local department store back home for a makeover. Coming from the school of thought "if the barn needs painting, paint it," we went for the full package.

During the barbershop style conversation, Tunde, the Hungarian cosmetician asked the usual questions. When I tried to explain what I do- she asked a pretty important question, “Do you like this politics?”

Do I like politics? No, what I like is the results of successful politics.

This year, as we head into legislative session, the battle cry is no surrender, no retreat.

Our medical cannabis bill is not perfect. We’ll need stakeholders to help us create the best – patient friendly law the country has seen. With the help of states like Washington and Colorado, we can help Florida lawmakers see that regulating and controlling cannabis has always been the right approach.

This is an uphill battle – but our cause is just….

We may not like politics; we may not always believe that these efforts are worthwhile; but, when we are here in Tallahassee, I know we are on the right path…. keep the faith, it may be darkest before the dawn but this is the Sunshine State – when we win – it will be dazzling.

Funny how things work…

Days in Tallahassee 20
Remaining Committees 7
Remaining Days for the bill to be heard 27
Remaining days of funding 10

Several years ago, I developed a short presentation on how to change the laws in Florida. There are really three ways to change the laws.

You can use the Courts, either through a lawsuit or an appeal after a conviction.
You can change the Constitution.
You can work through the legislature.

Today, Florida CAN President Cathy Jordan was with me here in Tallahassee. Members of the Democratic Women’s Club of Florida were in town to lobby on issues important to the group. This past September the club passed a resolution supporting therapeutic access to cannabis.

Over 150 women from around the state sat through panels, lobbyist training and workshops preparing for their lobby day. During a casual conversation a sister club member said, I sponsored the constitutional amendment to put cannabis protections in the constitution as part of the Constitutional Revision Commission.

I’ve joked from time-to-time about forgetting more about medical cannabis then most people will likely ever know, today, I was reminded there really are three ways to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Most medical cannabis supporters are familiar with the work of PUFMM, People United for Medical Marijuana. There campaign to collect the over half a million signature needed to put an amendment on the ballot never reached the threshold to get on the ballot.

In addition to collecting signatures, lawmakers have an additional avenue to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The Joint House and Senate Resolutions we are working with this year is a fine example of how that works. Lawmakers introduce the proposed amendment, ideally the bill is debated and passed through committee, reconciled with a matching version in both the House and Senate, then gets the support of over 60% of the members on the floor.

The Florida Constitution allows for a commission to be appointed every twenty-years to make a comprehensive review of our constitution. The commission accepts amendments, debates them and then puts amendments on the ballot.

Much to our surprise a Democratic Women’s Club leader was the sponsor of our proposed constitutional amendment during the last commission.

Activist giants like Greg Scott, Toni Leeman and Kevin Aplin coordinated patients and doctors to speak at meets of the Constitutional Revision Commission in 1996. The group led an incredibly passionate and professional campaign to put protections to medical cannabis in the constitution. The amendment worked its way through the committee process and in the end failed to make the cut. In its final minutes, the commission addressed the issue of safe access to cannabis. While the committee agreed medical cannabis was an important issue, they did not believe it belonged in the Constitution, but charged the legislature to pass laws protecting patients.

Twenty-years, a generation of activists, 17 states passing medical cannabis, 27 have introduced hemp initiative.

I want to assure patients in Florida, we are exhausting every measure, pursuing every lead. We understand the pressure you face, we know to be sick is hard enough, to be sick and afraid to use a medicine that truly helps, is impossible. One mind at a time, we are making a way for you. Keep the faith.

I’m Just a Party Guy

Day 11
Remaining Committees 7
Remaining Days to hear the bill 36
Remaining funding 19

Most of the time when you hear that you think “Let the good times roll.” Not in the Capital. Here, a party guy means until the majority of his or her peers are on board, no matter what the individual thinks, they won’t vote their conscience.

That has to be the most frustrating part of the work up here. In those one on one meeting you learn lots of things. I now know three Representatives that behind closed doors admit to having used cannabis. Regardless, they are not going to buck the leadership.

Last night I was just too exhausted to post a blog entry. All day at the Capital, dinner with a trusted advisor and several hours of research and prep work later, there was simply no more energy left.

Yesterday was a good day. Nearly 500 people reached out to their lawmakers. Florida lawmakers spent yesterday bragging about making Florida the premiere state for Veterans. We will welcome you with open arms as long as the medicine you use to treat your phantom limb pain or PTSD isn’t cannabis. Never fear, if you break the law by smoking cannabis for your PTSD we’ve got a program for that too.

As a movement we have got to get the Republican leadership involved in our cause. We have to get the Cancer Society, the Alzheimer’s Society and other important stakeholder on our side. We aren’t done in Tallahassee, but neither is the real work of getting support groups, researchers and medical associations to sign off.

When The Choir Sings

Day 9
Remaining Committees – 7
Remaining Days to be heard – 38
Remaining funding – 21 days

I’ve worked with a number of wonderful people in the drug reform movement who say they don’t like to speak at hemp festivals and pot rallies. They feel as though they are just “speaking to the choir” at those events. Over the years, as the number of people supporting safe, legal access to cannabis increases, it seems, more people qualify as converts.

So, in a fellowship you have converts, but it is the choir singing that will often move you as much, if not more, than the spoken message.

The choir of supporters in Florida have begun to sing. Nearly 1000 people sent e-mail messages to key members in the House and the Senate. Those voices moved two lawmakers who agree we should let the voters decide.

I feel pretty blessed to be here, seeing the lawmakers come to understand what it is we know about this plant. Being away from home is hard, even when the work is this important. I stayed in Tallahassee to make some strategic meetings making me more than a little homesick.

Each week we have identified select targets for educational efforts. This week we’ve adopted a pretty ambitious agenda. From our target list of Senators and House members, we’ve identified 600 supporters from their districts. If we can move our choir to share their story with their own personal representative and invite their neighbors to do the same, we will create the avalanche of support we need to pass a medical protection bill this year.

My job, as I go door-to-door meeting with these lawmakers is to listen for their hidden fears and find a way to move them. We already know the greatest misperception we have to overcome is the idea Floridians don’t support safe, legal access to cannabis medicine.

On the average, when we send out a “request for action”, a narrow percentage of people actually open the e-mail and take action. If only 1 in 20 of the people we asked to contact their lawmaker takes action, only 30 letters will be sent.

Do you believe the voice of 30 people is enough to move lawmaker in a state with nearly 18 million people? Surely, the walls of Jericho fell with just the blast of a trumpet and in this world of infinite possibilities nothing is impossible, but I believe we need more people to join the chorus.

Sometimes the choir sings, sometimes we all sing along.

Today, we need to all sing along. What are you waiting for? When will you talk to your neighbor about writing a letter, your barber, the stock boy and cashier? When will you call upon your congregation and office friends? If you wait for someone else to carry the message, we will be waiting another year for safe access for our patients.

Every day I wear a couple cannabis leaf lapel pins on my suit jacket. In the halls, in the elevators, in line at the cafeteria in the Capital, I am constantly asked about them. Last night, I went to a college bar with a former NORML board member. No one seemed to notice the embroidered pot leaf on my shirt. In the bars, in the streets, among the people this is not an issue, people already agree with you.

It takes a lot of courage to contact those lawmakers each day. It took a lot of strength for Cathy to come here with her caregiver to go door-to-door among scoffers. It is hard being here, away from a family I adore, dogs that always miss me and a home I love.

Yes, it is hard, it is a little scary to come out of the closet and show your true colors, but for now, we need you to join the choir and sing along! Don’t be afraid, it is the right thing to do.

Making Tracks

Day 6
Remaining Committees – 7
Remaining Days to be heard – 40
Remaining funding – 24 days

Florida Cannabis Action Network President of the Board, Cathy Jordan, spent three days here in Tallahassee last week. As a person surviving with Lou Gehrig’s Disease she is truly an inspiration. Although she is wheelchair bound and requires constant assistance from her caregiver Adam, she made meeting after meeting.

Non-smoking hotels means if smoking cannabis is your medicine, you have to make alternative arrangements to medicate. In the cold, without proper medication, two sick friends stuck in the hotel and Cathy still made meeting after meeting.

When you work with people like that, complaining seems a little juvenile. That aside, being here is hard work. Long days, high stakes, add lots of walking and more than a little stress. We know how important our success is to the future of Florida.

A last minute decision on the part of the House Judiciary committee pushed back the committee hearing from 8 am to 9. Who knew. That extra hour of sleep would have been welcome; but watching the committee work was worth the early morning.

This morning, Preventing Deaths from Drug- related Overdoses HB 125 sponsored by Representative Bernard was on the agenda. In New Mexico, a similar bill was passed in 2005. It was part of a strategy by drug policy reformers to educate the legislature. Although Representative Bernard is a democrat, the bill enjoys bipartisan support. This bill passed easily through committee this morning. It was the support by law enforcement agencies that peaked my curiosity. Representative Bernard agreed to meet next week to give us advice on how to build those bridges with unlikely allies.

The same bill was introduced by Representative Bernard last year. It passed through all of its committees but didn’t make it to the floor for a vote. Not encouraging but a reality here in Tallahassee.

The Florida Senate was in session both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, so today was my first opportunity to see them in committee. The more I watch bills make tracks though the committee the more clear it is how much we need leadership support.

If Senator Haridopolis and Speaker Cannon or the Governor doesn’t push for medical cannabis, it is unlikely our bill will be heard in the first committee. We aren’t done yet, but success will only happen with a ground swell of support.

Cannabis is good for me and its good for you.

Who would have believed I would learn so much in a hotel room. May 3, 2011, I had the great honor to spend a day in a hotel room in West Palm with Dr. Denis Petro and Cathy Jordan learning how cannabis is good for me and good for you too.

Cathy is an ALS survivor. The doctors will tell you there is no such thing as an ALS survivor. But, what do you call someone who was given 3-5 years to live over 25 years ago?

In January 1986, Cathy’s disease was confirmed by the teaching hospital at the University of Pennsylvania. The prognosis was fatal. The disease would ravish her system, they encouraged her to get her affairs in order and advised her on protecting her pulmonary system (quit smoking). Since that first diagnosis, Cathy has seen dozens of specialists at some of the finest hospitals in the country. Duke University, University of Miami, the list goes on. Cathy jokes about neurologists thinking they are God, she quickly adds that even a god would not be so arrogant as to believe they were a neurologist…

Most of the doctors Cathy has seen are most interested in helping her die with dignity. Cathy is more interested in living.

Dr. Petro flew to Florida to participate as an expert witness in the Jeffrey Kennedy trial due to start May 2. The prosecution dropped the charges against Mr. Kennedy leaving Dr. Petro free to meet with Cathy. Cathy and Ervin Dargon of Mingo Productions have been working together for years documenting her struggle to legalize cannabis in Florida.

As a patient advocate, Cathy fights every day for people who cannot advocate for themselves. Dr. Petro is an incredibly approachable advocate himself. He knows the historic politics of cannabis, and had a front row seat for the evolution of cannabis science. Dr. Petro has worked on motor neuron disorders for over 35 years. In the 1980’s Dr. Petro performed double-blind clinical trials with Marinol on MS patients. In his opinion, no other drug has the same effect on spasticity as cannabis.

As a specialist in MS, Dr. Petro has seen thousands of patients and testified in hundreds of trials. Until recently, both International MS patient advocacy groups had opposed cannabis use, now the U.K. MS Society provides patients with details about the various strains of cannabis. In the U.S. at least 50,000 patients with MS use cannabis daily instead of the spending thousands of dollars each month on traditional MS drugs according to Dr. Petro, yet many of them are subject to arrest for their medical decision.

It was fascinating to hear the Doctor talk about the affect cannabis has on the hippocampus; some species will have more impact on the hippocampus than others. Currently, in Colorado vendors supply over 30 cannabis preparations available to treat various systems. The right strain of cannabis will increase your acuity while another strain might make you sleepy.

When asked to help us overcome the objection to smoked medicine, Dr. Petro was genus. He talked about how we take medicine tends to be cultural. We had to laugh when we learned that most French people on anti-depressants us a suppository. Contrary to some people’s belief, the distribution of cannabinoids works best if administered as an inhalant or spray in order to get it to the brain and system quickly. By using it as an inhalant you allow for faster absorption, only intravenous injections would come near the absorption rate and smoking it rather than taking a pill or eating a preparation eliminates the interaction in the liver.

When asked about the future of cannabis, Dr. Petro said he believes by the end of 2011 the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency will agree to schedule full spectrum cannabis based drugs as Schedule 3 products.

Cannabis-based drugs on the market, easily accessible to patients is a good thing if it happens. When Florida Cannabis Action Network designed its first strategy in 1999, we recognized moving Marinol to Schedule 3 as a positive step. When it was rescheduled, we celebrated it as a success. However, Marinol is expense, poorly promoted –therefore, rarely prescribed and even patients with access report it doesn’t work as well as smoked cannabis.

Cathy has no intention of giving up her plant in exchange for the next new thing. Just because the government has allowed pharmaceutical companies to take over a portion of the medical cannabis industry, Florida Cannabis Action Network is going to continue the crusade to give people access to this wonderful plant that can heal our bodies and prosper our planet.

Another Great Day in Florida Cannabis History

April 29 was a great day in Florida cannabis history. Jeffrey Kennedy, a pain patient from Boynton Beach was scheduled to present a medical necessity defense on Monday morning May 2nd in a Palm Beach Courtroom. Prosecutors dropped the charges rather than go to trial.

Florida has one of the strongest medical necessity defenses in the country. Established in 1991, Florida patients who meet strict criteria may present testimony at trial – known as an affirmative defense allows a compassionate jury to acquit the defendant. Jeffrey cultivated cannabis in consultation with his doctor. The defense was prepared to bring on top tier nationally respected doctors to put the efficacy of cannabis on the record. The prosecution blinked.

Nullification- when a jury decides that the law the defendant has broken, in this case cultivation of cannabis for medicine, is less harmful to society then the alternative, is a viable tactic. It requires serious people to risk their freedom and seriously ill people to risk their lives. Nullification is based on raising a level of awareness in a community to the point where a jury will not convict.

Palm Beach and Broward groups are raising the awareness in their community. This legislative session lawmaker, Jeff Clemens introduced the first medical cannabis bill in Florida since1978. He knows his constituents support cannabis reforms and this was just a baby step.

Today, Jeffrey Kennedy and his loved ones can breathe a sigh of relief. The battle is over for Jeffrey. In looking the legal system square in the eye, putting it all on the line, he won. Cannabis is his medicine. The court knows it.

Here at FL CAN we wish Jeffrey all the best. We thank him for his courage and heroism. Jeffrey, on behalf of people just like you we are committed to changing cannabis laws in Florida any way we CAN!

Why Valentines Day?

We spent the better part of Sunday working on the Omega Project. It was important that we put some finishing touches on the site before Valentine's Day. Why Valentine's Day? It's easy. Someone I love smokes marijuana. Someone I love is sick and cannabis makes them feel better. Someone I love will suffer and succumb to their illness without access to cannabis.

Floridians deserve to have access to cannabis if they are sick. 33% of America's live in a state that protects them from police when they use cannabis as medicine.

Last week, we had another legal support call. The man is over 60 years old, a retired vet - 23 years in the service of our country. He was arrested with less than 1 ounce of cannabis, he is facing a $1000 fine and upto 1 year in jail. He has traumatic brain damage due to his exposure to radiation in the service. How are we safer by using police resources to arrest him, tax dollars to prosecute and jail space to house him?

So - we launched the site yesterday. It has some bugs and areas we want to flesh out, but the new board is coming together, which means more voices to share their ideas here in After Thoughts.

I'm Excited about the Omega Project. The beginning of the end. You know why we need to end cannabis prohibition and we know how. It's time.