A conservative advocacy group is preparing to fight a push to legalize medical marijuana.
Amy Ronshausen – the interm deputy director of Save Out Society From Drugs – released a statement Tuesday saying that “crude marijuana does not meet the standards of modern medicine.”
The statement was filed with the state’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, which is researching a proposed amendment that would legalize marijuana for medical purposes. On Dec. 5, the state’s Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether the amendment should go before Florida voters.
Ronshausen’s comments come less than a week after Attorney General Pam Bondi challenged the measure before the state’s Supreme Court, telling the court that pro-medical marijuana groups want to mislead voters into passing the measure.
Florida is attempting to become the first state to adopt medical marijuana laws in the south, where conservative attitudes have kept MMJ legislation at bay.
It would be a huge new market for MMJ and represent a big symbolic win for the industry. But it will take a Herculean effort to make it a reality.
Aside from convincing voters to support the controversial measure, organizers have to meet extremely high hurdles worked into the state Constitution to get a measure in front of voters. The state’s advocacy group, People United for Medical Marijuana, must obtain 700,000 valid signatures supporting the measure by Feb. 1. The organization reportedly has collected 200,000 so far, more than half of which have been validated.
