Florida approves medical marijuana in landslide
More than 70 per cent of voters support the measure
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Your support makes all the difference.Voters in Florida approved an amendment on Tuesday, with more than 75 per cent of the vote, that will widen access to medical marijuana in the Sunshine State.
The state’s Proposed Constitutional Amendment 2 expand upon the current law, which allows non-smoked marijuana for patients suffering from cancer, seizures or severe spasms, Florida Today reports. Now, doctors will be able to prescribe the drug at their discretion.
Amendment 2 lists additional illnesses including epilepsy, glaucoma, AIDS, PTSD, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.
“Getting over 60 per cent at this point means so much both symbolically and legally because we’re able to relinquish the name of criminals that has been forced on us,” Moriah Barnhart, a resident of Brandon, told the Miami Herald. Her daughter Dahlia uses the drug to treat her brain cancer.
A similar measure failed back in 2014 on concerns that children would be harmed from the dangers of marijuana.
“Better late than never,” Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Most states outside the South already have legal medical marijuana, but the overwhelming victory today in Florida is likely to accelerate the momentum for reform throughout the region.”