Desperate for relief from anxiety, 19-year-old second-year undergraduate psychology student Adi Stull found medical cannabis to be her solution.
Stull said her cannabis use has had positive results in her daily life. She believes other adults should also have access to marijuana.
“Alcohol is legal, but I see no reason why marijuana shouldn't be legal,” she said. “There are some potential dangers with marijuana, but I think a lot of them are fear-mongering and really aren’t as big of a deal as people say.”
Stull plans to vote in favor of Amendment 3 in November.
If Amendment 3 passes, it would allow adults 21 and older to possess, purchase, and use marijuana products for recreational purposes. The proposed amendment would allow recreational possession of up to 3 ounces. The amendment to gain access to the ballot was approved by the Florida Supreme Court on April 1 and received signatures from more than 1 million voters.
The amendment would need 60% support on the November ballot to pass. Recent opinion polls show that the referendum passed by a narrow margin. According to a recent poll by Emerson College, 64% of voters approve of the amendment.
In Alachua County, stakeholders are concerned about the potential impact if the amendment is approved by residents.
legal concerns
Possession of marijuana without a medical card is a crime in Florida. Melanie Slaughter, a north-central Florida criminal defense attorney, has represented clients on marijuana charges.
Slaughter often advises clients facing marijuana charges to obtain a medical card, as certifications such as anxiety, cancer, epilepsy and HIV are relatively easy to obtain once a diagnosis has been made. He said he is doing so.
For first-time offenses, Slaughter said, customers found in possession of marijuana without a medical card typically end up in a diversion program, such as community service. Prison sentences for marijuana use typically only occur if you commit multiple crimes.
But testing for marijuana use in cases such as drunk driving can be opaque, she says. Marijuana can remain in a user's system for up to a month and can result in a positive drug test result even if the user is not actively under the influence of marijuana.
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With the passage of the Third Amendment, individuals convicted of using or possessing marijuana may serve time for a crime that no longer exists. Slaughter said the legal community is uncertain what will happen to people currently incarcerated for marijuana possession if the amendment passes. She said she hopes this amendment can benefit her clients by providing a path for people facing marijuana-related charges to have their records expunged.
However, Slaughter said he is personally concerned about legalizing marijuana because of how it affects users' attitudes and motivations. As a defense attorney, she sees every day how marijuana can be a “gateway” to poor life choices for her clients.
“It takes away people's ambition to do something,” she said. “They just exist in smoke, and that's not a productive way for society to allow people to live.”
Alachua County Sheriff's Office spokesman Art Forgey said the potential increase in drunk driving is law enforcement's biggest Third Amendment concern.
He said Alachua County has a relatively low rate of marijuana-related drunk driving incidents, but some people may not understand their limits after the referendum.
“In the case of (alcohol) DUI, there is a breathalyzer that can be given to the person,” he said. “When it comes to marijuana, we don't have any equipment that can measure it.”
In cases where there is a possibility of marijuana DUI, a field evaluation must be conducted based on a breathalyzer test and visible driving impairment, Forgey said. He said there is still uncertainty and many questions remain about what regulations Congress will put in place regarding recreational use if the amendment passes.
medical regulations
Alachua County has more than 20 dispensaries that can only distribute marijuana to customers with medical cards. It's unclear how the medical marijuana community will be affected by the drug's legalization, said Aaron Bloom, CEO of DocMJ, a licensed medical marijuana physician practice in Florida. said.
More than 800,000 Floridians have a medical marijuana card. These cards can only be issued by a certified physician after determining that the patient has a legally eligible condition. Bloom said it's up to licensed physicians to determine whether the benefits of marijuana outweigh the risks before legally recommending it.
The medical risks of marijuana use include addiction, risk of pregnancy, permanent IQ loss, and impaired athletic performance. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, benefits include pain control, nausea control, and increased appetite.
If a doctor believes that cannabis is beneficial for a patient, the doctor will be given the following instructions:
He said it was placed on the state registry following a recommendation. Patients must then pay a fee to the state and obtain a card for medical marijuana use. Patients with the card will be able to make purchases at any Florida licensed pharmacy by paying a re-enrollment fee each cycle.
“My concern with the Third Amendment is that we've had a very successful medical marijuana program in Florida over the last eight years,” Bloom said. “My concern is that those products (medical marijuana) will no longer be available.”
Since recreational use was legalized in other states, Bloom said, more dispensaries have begun stocking products for the recreational market, where they can sell at higher profit margins and higher prices.
Bloom said there is a difference between the types of marijuana used in medical and recreational products. Medical marijuana is usually formulated with high levels of CBD, which has less harmful effects on the body, and lower levels of THC, the psychoactive drug that gives users the “high” feeling. Bloom said the recreational market craves marijuana's psychoactive properties, which could result in varieties with higher concentrations of THC being sold. This is not well-suited to the medical market, Bloom said.
“Pharmacies are limited in the amount of product they can produce, and they are limited in the amount of product they can process,” he said. “I'm worried that patients will get lost in the shuffle.”
Florida's “Yes on 3” campaign is spending millions of dollars, and one of the biggest donors is Trulieve, a popular medical marijuana dispensary. Trulieve spokesman Steven Vancore said the company has already donated $95 million to the effort.
When it comes to recreational marijuana, Vancore said there will be regulations in place that will make marijuana possession safer. Although most illegal marijuana seized by law enforcement contains dangerous additives from illegal pesticides, the Third Amendment requires that it be distributed by licensed growers.
He said the recreational market would also provide tax revenue on all recreational marijuana sold in the state, stimulating economic growth. Bankole said if the amendment passes, he expects Congress to enact laws restricting smoking and consumption in public places, similar to existing laws on tobacco and alcohol.
“We now know that the majority of adult Americans have the freedom to choose to possess and consume safe, lab-tested marijuana without fear,” he said. “It’s time for Floridians in the Free State to enjoy that freedom, too.”
Please contact Morgan Vanderlaan at mvanderlaan@alligator.org. X Follow her at @morgvande.
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Morgan Vanderlaan
Morgan Vanderlaan is a second-year political science major and fall 2024 political enterprise reporter. When she's not on the clock, she's writing, reading, or watching plays.
