Pubdate: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2013 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n265/a04.html Author: Juan Palenzuela LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN FLORIDA The comprehensive June 12 op-ed by Howard Simon of the ACLU on the drug war debacle exposes the ugly truth of this issue. Instead of a new approach, our legislators did not have the decency to provide even one committee hearing for the medical marijuana bill introduced this session through the efforts of state Sen. Jeff Clemens, state Rep. Katie Edwards and the Florida Cannabis Action Network. The rest of the leadership's consensus on the issue can be summed up with Gov. Rick Scott's bookend actions of welfare drug-testing and his failure to veto the useless bong ban. To say most of the leaders on this appear as bigots, or woefully ignorant, is a charitable statement. Truly a slap in the face of our returning veterans and civilian patients alike who continue to be denied safe access to this medicine. From here it seems a great distance to sensible legalization and taxation of cannabis for Floridians. Hopefully in the near future, Flori-duh can change these hateful laws. Juan Palenzuela, Hollywood - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom