The Florida Supreme Court will decide whether a medical marijuana citizen initiative can move forward starting December 5.
As we told you earlier this week, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has raised some rather serious objections to the People United for Medical Marijuana initiative that would put the medical cannabis issue to voters in November 2014. So far, supporters have collected more than 100,000 signatures out of the 683,149 needed by Feb. 2014.
The state Supreme Court will now collect written arguments from both sides by Nov. 8. Both sides will also have time to rebuff each other’s arguments before the judges hear oral arguments on Dec. 5.
Bondi is essentially arguing that the bill is too broadly written and that it would open the floodgates to legalization because anyone with enough money could get a doctor to write a recommendation – which many feel is the case in states like California and Colorado. She also tries arguing that the measure would violate federal law if passed – a move that 20 other states (and D.C.) have already decided isn’t true.
| Pam Bondi. |
The stall from the conservative Bondi gives her Republican friends more time and ammunition to rally the troops against the bill. The Florida Times-Union out of Jacksonville reports that the group Saving our Society from Drugs is already blathering on with their usual bullshit. The group opposes medical marijuana bills all over the country.
Their argument is more sophisticated than the simple “Just Say No” approach, instead they now argue that marijuana might be beneficial but raw cannabis isn’t really medicine and therefore needs to be banned.
Which is pure crap. Smoked, raw cannabis can be beneficial to people just the same as extracted cannabinoids and a lot of times that is far more than synthetic cannabis drugs like Marinol ever accomplish.
The group is funded by major GOP wallet Mel Sembler, who also helped fund the bullshit Smart Colorado people who are also opposed to legalization and often tout bullshit statistics from “drug expert” physicians who are making hundreds of thousands treating people for “marijuana addiction”.
Supporters of the bill have called this shameless politicking from “out of touch” state leaders who openly defy public opinion. People United has released polls showing up to 70 percent support for medical marijuana legalization in Florida.
“Attorney General Bondi wants to deny Floridians the opportunity to even vote on this issue,” Ben Pollara, the campaign manager of People United for Medical Marijuana, said in a statement.