Marijuana law tailor-made for Florida-style privilege-abusers

Frank Cerabino

When I look at the Florida ballot amendment that would allow doctors to recommend marijuana for some of their patients, I can’t help but think about emotional support animals and disabled parking permits.

I know some people would really benefit from medical marijuana, starting with my 85-year-old mother, who seriously would be better off if she traded in Judge Judy and half of her prescriptions for Bob Marley and a magic brownie.

But you’d have to put on a big pair of blinders not to acknowledge that Amendment 2 on Florida’s ballot has the potential for being another racket in the making.

That’s because there are multitudes of Floridians who want to smoke marijuana. And it has nothing to do with the state of their infirmity.

It’s no different than the legions of people who want to take their dogs wherever they go, or park their cars in the best spots in every parking lot and for free at metered spots.

When you create a pathway that accommodates people with a disability or a special need, you have to be very careful not to make that pathway wide enough to let the abusers in.

The language of the marijuana amendment says that licensed physicians would be allowed to recommend mari- juana to treat patients with a “debilitating medical condition.”

Some of these conditions are spelled out: cancer, Parkinson’s disease, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn’s disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, epilepsy ...

But the list isn’t narrowly defined. It’s got fuzzy edges by adding “or other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.”

Doctors will decide what other conditions they consider comparable. In the 23 other states with medical marijuana, those conditions have sometimes included “severe pain,” nausea, arthritis, muscle spasms, inflammatory bowel disease and fibromyalgia.

“The only person equipped to answer that question about debilitating medical conditions would be a licensed Florida physician,” said Ben Pollara,