Editorial roundup

May 30

Naples Daily News

Mixed messages

The blame game for Florida’s confused state about medical marijuana has continued in recent days as Collier County commissioners voted to ban dispensaries and a Tallahassee judge ruled that patients should be allowed to smoke it as medicine.

Make no mistake, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Current and prior occupants of the White House. Congress. The U.S. attorney general. Federal agencies. The Florida Legislature. State agencies. Other states.

However, let’s be sure not to leave off this list those who crafted the too-vague constitutional amendment that went to Florida voters in 2014 and 2016.

What would be more beneficial than pointing fingers, though, would be for politicians, the adults, to come up with a clear and uniform directive, one way or another.

Why is that important? Any child who is watching this debate unfold is getting mixed messages:

• Marijuana is bad for you except when it’s not.

• Whether it’s bad for you depends on the state you call home.

• Smoking isn’t good for you and can cause cancer but smoking medical marijuana is OK, even if you have cancer.

• The Florida Department of Health is the agency in charge of creating the state’s medical marijuana rules based on the amendment voters approved. The agency has a warning message on its website in bold letters: “Medical marijuana is available in Florida, however, remains illegal under federal law.”

• State after state is authorizing marijuana as medicine but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continues to classify it as a Schedule I drug. “Schedule I drugs have a high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence,” the DEA says. Marijuana is listed alongside heroin, LSD, ecstasy and methaqualone. …

Some 25 states had adopted laws or approved ballot measures before Florida voters did in November 2016. Some allowed patients to grow and possess a certain number of plants while others authorized set amounts of leafy material. That could, and should, have been crafted as part of the amendment proposal. Instead, voters gave discretion to the Legislature and health department to decide what Florida would offer patients.

Collier commissioners are hoping lawmakers modify the legislation they passed.

For kids’ sake, clarity on the entire issue would seem in order.