cannabisnews.com: John Morgan Sues State for Blocking Smoking of MMJ
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John Morgan Sues State for Blocking Smoking of MMJ
Posted by CN Staff on July 06, 2017 at 07:03:17 PT
By Mary Ellen Klas, Tallahassee Bureau
Source: Miami Herald
Tallahassee -- Arguing that Florida legislators violated voters’ intent when they prohibited smoking for the medical use of marijuana, the author of the state's medical marijuana amendment sued the state on Thursday to throw out the implementing law.John Morgan, the Orlando trial lawyer who spearheaded the successful campaign to make medical access to cannabis a constitutional right, filed the lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court Thursday morning, asking the court to declare the law implementing the 2016 constitutional amendment unenforceable.
“Inhalation is a medically effective and efficient way to deliver Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and other cannabinoids, to the bloodstream,” wrote Morgan and his lead lawyer, Jon Mills, a constitutional lawyer and former Democratic House speaker, on behalf of Florida for Care Inc., the non-profit formed to promote the initiative.“By redefining the constitutionally defined term ‘medical use' to exclude smoking, the Legislature substitutes its medical judgment for that of ‘a licensed Florida physician’ and is in direct conflict with the specifically articulated Constitutional process,” the lawsuit states.More than 71 percent of Florida voters approved the amendment in November 2016, the largest percentage of support a medical marijuana initiative has received by popular vote.The lawsuit argues that the amendment does not prohibit smoking but instead contemplates that smoking would be authorized because it allows the state to prohibit smoking of marijuana for medical purposes in public places.“The statement unambiguously says that smoking medical marijuana in a private place in compliance with the provisions of the amendment is legal,” the suit states.However, the Florida Legislature passed, and Gov. Rick Scott signed, a provision that defines “medical use” to exclude “possession, use or administration of marijuana in a form for smoking.” Morgan’s lawsuit claims that provision “redefined and narrowed the definition of marijuana in direct conflict” with the Constitution.If the court agrees and invalidates the law implementing the bill, the task of writing the rules for implementing the new amendment will fall to the Florida Department of Health.The Legislature did allow for edibles and “vaping” as a delivery system for THC and cannabinoids. It also provided funding for the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa to conduct research into the uses and effectiveness of medical marijuana.The House sponsor of the law, Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, called smoking a “backdoor attempt at recreational” use of marijuana.Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, the Senate sponsor, called the measure, which passed during the June special session, “patient-first legislation” that “will expand access to this medicine, while ensuring safety through a unified regulatory structure for each component of the process from cultivation to consumption."But Morgan, who uses the hashtag #nosmokeisajoke, argues that smoking is a safe use of the drug. The lawsuit cites a 2012 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that found smoking marijuana does not not impair lung function and, when not used heavily, was shown to increase lung capacity.“Despite decades of marijuana being used for smoking in the United States, there have been no reported medical cases of lung cancer or emphysema attributed to marijuana,’’ the lawsuit said.Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that promotes federal funding of marijuana research, blasted the lawsuit as “nothing more than a smokescreen designed to bypass the FDA and open the doors to a new for-profit, retail commercial marijuana industry in Florida.”“There's a reason why every single major medical association opposes the use of the raw, smoked form of marijuana as medicine: smoke is not a reliable delivery system, it's impossible to measure dosage, and it contains hundreds of other chemical compounds that may do more harm than good,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of the group, in a statement.Source: Miami Herald (FL)Author: Mary Ellen Klas, Tallahassee BureauPublished: July 6, 2017Copyright: 2017 The Miami HeraldContact: heralded herald.comWebsite: http://www.miamiherald.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/cor9YsUOCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on July 09, 2017 at 16:44:23 PT
Of course they do, Soupherb!
"Do they really think cannabis users are stupid?"Along with self-righteousness... prohibitionists usually have an arrogance and disdain towards cannabis users that could be viewed as self-smartness. Which isn't about being smart any more than self-righteousness is about being righteous.This evening I watched a couple of great Weediquette programs. That is such a good program. Today was a program about the mothers seeking cannabis help for their children's autism and a great one about PTSD. The PTSD one is required watching... or should be. Watch it, if you can! https://www.viceland.com/en_us/show/weediquette-idAnd this is the one about PTSD. It's called Chronic Trauma https://www.viceland.com/en_us/video/weediquette-chronic-trauma/59109ffce5247dc76c28d041 Please watch it. It's great. Weediquette should be winning lots of awards for it's fantastic coverage of these issues.
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Comment #7 posted by Soupherb on July 09, 2017 at 11:18:18 PT:
Funny, Had Enough
The same reasoning would be to shut down every fast food franchise because they have been found to be a cause of diabetes in Americans...wow...
Do they really think cannabis users are stupid?
Because I don't know any and all my user friends have their own company or go to work in a suit as a real professional not a lying prohib...
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Comment #6 posted by Had Enough on July 08, 2017 at 12:23:10 PT
Reasons...???...
""“There's a reason why every single major medical association opposes the use of the raw, smoked form of marijuana as medicine: smoke is not a reliable delivery system, it's impossible to measure dosage, and it contains hundreds of other chemical compounds that may do more harm than good,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of the group, in a statement.""We all know what that reason is...
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on July 07, 2017 at 15:37:01 PT
The K.S. guy
POOR Kevin is a PROHIBITIONIST;Enough said.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on July 07, 2017 at 14:53:46 PT
Kevin Sabet says it is
impossible to measure dosage of smoke.How about a hit? A puff? A drag? A five second draw? A one second draw? Hold it five seconds? Hold it one second?How about a basting sack full from a volcano every hour and a half? That sounds like a dose or a measure to me.Ah, but it's not about common sense, of course. That's always been apparent. It's about being a persnickety, sadistic, no good, busy body.
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Comment #3 posted by Had Enough on July 07, 2017 at 11:32:00 PT
Morgan challenges medical marijuana smoking ban
TALLAHASSEE (NSF) - Saying Floridians knew what they were voting on in November, Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan on Thursday followed through on threats to sue the state over a smoking ban included in a new law carrying out a constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana.Morgan, who largely bankrolled the medical-marijuana ballot initiative, had repeatedly threatened to launch a legal challenge over smoking, which he maintains was permitted in the amendment supported by more than 71 percent of Florida voters last fall.Click to see... http://www.fox13news.com/news/florida-news/266106897-story
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on July 06, 2017 at 19:29:32 PT
Long live good people. Down with crappy people.
Crappy people don't stop being crappy.Long live those who stop the crappy people.
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on July 06, 2017 at 07:42:14 PT
Not All Smoking is Recreational! Go John Morgan!
Contrary to the usual nonsense that comes out of Mr. Sabet's mouth, smoking is precisely how one can finely regulate or titrate the dosage of marijuana medicine.There seem to be conflicting statements on smoking in the Florida laws and John Morgan is going for it.
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