A medical marijuana face-off
 

By Anna Scott


Published: Monday, April 6, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 8:18 p.m.
Marijuana is the only drug Cathy Jordan says helps her fight Lou Gehrig's disease. The 59-year-old mother smokes two joints every night to relieve depression and muscle spasms, and to boost her appetite.

"It's keeping me alive," said Jordan in an interview at her home in Parrish. "Anti-depressants made me a zombie and other drugs had bad side effects. The crime is that people like me can't get it legally."

Floridians could vote for the first time next year to allow marijuana for medical use. A petition drive, started last week by an Orlando woman whose father has Parkinson's disease, would make the drug legal for any condition as prescribed by a doctor.

The last time such an organized effort to legalize marijuana occurred in Florida was 1997, just one year after California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana. But in Florida the petitioners fell hundreds of thousands of signatures short of getting to a state referendum.

This time the movement faces some of the same roadblocks, such as opposition from law enforcement and a lack of support by the majority of the medical community.

But the climate has become more favorable in ways that could shift the balance.

A dozen other states have approved medical marijuana since Florida last tried to get it on the ballot, and four state legislatures are currently considering proposals.

Federal law, while it has prohibited marijuana since 1937, is also shifting: Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder said the federal government would stop raiding marijuana distributors in states where it is legal.

And Florida's proponents, People United For Medical Marijuana, hope they can make the argument that legalizing the drug could create tax revenue and jobs to lift the state economy. Kim Russell, the founder, suggested $200 million a year could be gained in tax revenue.

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