Guest Author
The sham that is Amendment 2 continues to evolve. The latest iteration is the so-called Blue Ribbon Commission.
While there is no doubt that the commission includes quality members, the idea of a self-appointed “commission” is just another example of the arrogance of the amendment proponents.
This group has no authority whatsoever, so no one except the most ardent believers is going to listen to its machinations. No one, certainly not the Florida Legislature, is going to give any credence to this group.
Why? Because this group is nothing more than a kangaroo court. The outcome is already predetermined.
Of the six members that have been identified to date on its website, four of them support the Amendment 2’s passage and have publicly declared themselves. One individual hasn’t committed yet – go figure. And only one individual, a former Miami-Dade legislator, is opposed to the amendment and has indicated that he will vote against it.
That makes it likely that any controversial vote will be 5-1 or perhaps 4-2. That immediately robs this group of any relevance, objectivity, or credibility.
Oh, they put people of substance on this group, but any decision is going to be automatically biased in favor of supporting the amendment. What kind of commission is that? One that’s a joke.
Even if the proponents put more people on this group that are publicly opposed to medical marijuana, it’s still going to be a thin façade because the commission has no ability to implement anything that its members may recommend.
It’s simply window dressing to provide some cover for what they want to see happen.
Nevertheless the amendment is beginning to be exposed for what it really is: not medical marijuana, because anyone will be able to get it and, unfortunately, for any reason.
The Tampa Tribune recently editorialized against the constitutional amendment as “rife with loopholes that likely will result in the widespread use of an unsafe drug.” They went on to say, “It is one thing to be compassionate; it’s another to be reckless.”
They nailed it! If this amendment simply limited medical marijuana to a specific list of debilitating diseases or end-of-life cases, then perhaps this amendment would be worthy of your vote.
But the authors didn’t do that, even though they could have. They didn’t draft it that way because then most Floridians wouldn’t be able to have access to it. And that would limit its appeal to a whole cadre of pot heads that want it for the “sore throat” or “inability to sleep” reason that the amendment’s author testified to before the Florida Supreme Court.
Think about that for a moment. Do we really want anyone to use the new, stronger, higher THC, more euphoric marijuana because they can’t get to sleep? What kind of medical quacks will recommend that “medicine” versus over-the-counter medicine now available?
The kind of “doctors” who promoted pill mills that led to thousands of deaths of Floridians and that took years to wipe out of existence. These are the kind of doctors that prey on their clients because they know exactly what their patients want and they will get paid simply for prescribing med weed. If they prescribe something else, how long do you think they’ll stay in business?
No, if this amendment was about helping the truly needy, then the authors would have limited it to a succinct list of specific conditions. For those individuals, they need medical marijuana. It will help them. It will lessen the pain. It will make them be able to get through another day of pain or seizures. And any doctor can already prescribe the pill version of medical marijuana, which will relieve their symptoms and help them to cope.
No one can deny them that medicine. But this amendment goes way beyond these individuals and allows it for anyone for anything. The Tampa Tribune summed it up best when its editorial board said that there are loopholes “large enough to drive a Volkswagen van through.”
Vote no on Amendment 2.
Barney Bishop III is the president and CEO of Barney Bishop Consulting, LLC. Barney can be reached at [email protected]. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
