James Call
Support for medicinal marijuana is growing once again in Florida, according to a Quinnipiac Poll taken this past month. It found 84 percent of registered voters support legalization of medical marijuana and 52 percent support full legalization.
The results are consistent with other states.
“Bare majorities in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania say they support allowing adults to possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use and more than eight in 10 say it should be available for medical uses,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll said in a prepared statement.
The poll was taken March 17 to 28 and 1,087 Florida voters participated. The results have a 3 percent margin of error.
Florida lawmakers are struggling to implement a low-THC medicinal cannabis law approved in 2104. It has been tied up in lawsuits with the Department of Health and growers unable to agree on regulations. A glitch bill for the 2014 law is moving through the Senate but patient advocates are arguing for higher levels of THC to treat more illnesses and investors question whether the restrictive law will produce a sustainable marijuana industry with such a small patient base.
“While the 84 percent in this recent poll is significant the number lawmakers should find more significant but have not is 58 percent. That’s not the finding of a public opinion survey but the actual majority of Floridians who voted for medical marijuana last fall,” said Ben Pollara, executive director of United for Care. UF supports a much broader medicinal marijuana law than lawmakers are willing to consider.
“It is worth considering the lesson of Florida in 2014 when a referendum on medical marijuana fell short of the 60 percent needed for passage,” Brown said of the Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania results.
UFC’s Amendment 2 fell 2 points short in November of the threshold needed for adoption. The group remains active at the state Capitol lobbying for changes in the current law and organizing for the 2016 election, a presidential election year when voter turn out at the polls is higher than non-presidential years.
“I say this to the people of Florida,” Sen. Joe Abruzzo said last week during a committee meeting where people testified for higher levels of THC to be included in a glitch bill for the medicinal marijuana law. “If we do not go far enough with our legislation . . get it on the ballot. We just had it on the ballot and barely failed. Get it on the ballot and we will see what happens when we have a mass turnout election.”
