Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing back against a proposed ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana in the Sunshine State.
In a brief filed Friday in the Florida Supreme Court, Bondi argued that the ballot title and initiative are overall misleading to voters and hide the amendments true scope and effect.
The proposed constitutional amendment, backed by People United for Medical Marijuana, would decriminalize the use of medical marijuana. The group has already collected about 200,000 signatures of the nearly 700,000 signatures needed to qualify for space on the ballot.
Supporters of the initiative have until Feb. 1 to submit petitions to the secretary of state.
Bondis 32-page brief outlines several reasons to remove the proposal from the November 2014 ballot, although it does not contest the policy of medical marijuana outright.
In the brief, the attorney general expresses concerns that the constitutional amendment would allow for far wider use of marijuana than the ballot title and summary revealed, ultimately allowing for widespread use of the drug.
The amendment would make Florida one of the most permissive states in the country, read the brief. Unlike most other states narrow and limited programs, this proposal would allow anyone of any age to use marijuana for any reason, so long as they found a physician to say that the benefits would outweigh the risks.
Bondi also argued that the amendment doesnt have enough limits on the conditions that would allow an individual to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Permitting marijuana for serious and devastating diseases is one thing. Allowing marijuana for essentially any condition is quite another, read the brief.
Bondi raised concerns that the title and initiative would provide broad immunity to physicians authorizing medical marijuana. Under the original proposal, all a physician must do is conduct a physical examination of the patient and a full assessment of the patients medical history to authorize the use of medical marijuana.
Because the title and initiative are misleading, Bondi says the ballot should be removed.
[The sponsor] chose a title and summary that fly under false colors, wrote Bondi. And it chose to hide from voters information they need to make informed, intelligent decisions.
Big-time trial lawyer John Morgan has been a staunch advocate for the ballot measure. Morgan has pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money into advertisements supporting the initiative.
Morgan says his own familys experience with medical marijuana is whats driving him to lead the fight to get it on the ballot in 2014, but others disagree -- they say Morgans push is part of a ramped-up effort to draw liberals to the polls next year to support his employee, former Gov. Charlie Crist.
"I'm not sure anyone believes him when he says he's doing this just to look out for people in pain or with specific types of diseases," Dave Hart, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, told the Orlando Sentinel. The Florida Chamber is opposing the amendment along with the Florida Medical Association and state Sheriffs Association. "Certainly, we're concerned about Charlie Crist's employer and what's motivating him to put this on the ballot."
The initiative has already gathered the attention of House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz, who also filed a brief Friday with the Florida Supreme Court closely mirroring Bondis.
The court is slated to hear oral arguments on the ballot initiative Dec. 5.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen atallison@sunshinestatenews.comor follow her on Twitter at@AllisonNielsen.
