Medical Marijuana Draws the Fire of Florida Police Chiefs

The Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) took aim at Amendment 2, a proposed amendment to the state Constitution which will allow more medical marijuana options in Florida. A Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this week found 88 percent of Floridians support medical marijuana though the survey did not focus on Amendment 2. The poll also showed 55 percent of Florida voters backed the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

Regardless of any state laws, recreational marijuana use is still illegal on the federal level because of its high potential for abuse and the fact that there is no currently accepted national standard for use as a medical treatment, said Chief Frank Kitzerow, the president of the FPCA, on Thursday. Its important to understand that expanding the use of marijuana for medical purposes is not a safer way to use the drug.

Kitzerow pointed to studies which show that marijuana use and criminal involvement other than drug use are highly related and car accidents involving marijuana after Colorado legalized it for medicinal reasons.