Amendment 2 on Medical Marijuana Gets More Support

Amendment 2, a proposed state constitutional amendment expanding the use of medical marijuana in Florida, continues to draw supporters and opponents as the Sunshine State heads into the general election. 

The proposal has won the support of  Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of more than 150,000 supporters across the nation. LEAP came out strongly behind Amendment 2 and pushed back against criticism of the proposal from the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA). 

“Voters deserve to know that many of us in law enforcement do not wish to stand between them and their doctors when it comes to marijuana,” said Neill Franklin, the executive director of LEAP,  Franklin served 34 years in law enforcement in Maryland, rising to the rank of major and working for the state police and the Baltimore Police Department.

“It is a waste of taxpayer dollars to make suffering people risk arrest, a criminal record, physical danger and even poisoning on the illicit market,” Franklin said. “Like any other medicine their doctors recommend, they should be able to obtain quality medical marijuana in a safe, lawful marketplace where the proceeds are not going to benefit criminal gangs and drug cartels.” 

Noting some media reports have hit the FSA for going overboard in attacking Amendment 2, Franklin said his group would fight their claims. 

“As these newspapers point out, the sheriffs’ fear-mongering claims are nonsense: repeated studies over many years in states that permit medicinal marijuana have found no evidence of increased teen usage, no increase in crime -- and an actual reduction in the number of traffic fatalities,” said Franklin. “In the face of a desperate fear campaign, LEAP’s members will continue to serve the people of Florida as a ‘truth squad’ that will respond to the wild misstatements and distortions about Amendment 2.”