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.

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.