March 10, 2010 – At the state capitol in Tallahassee, Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth) and co-sponsors introduce the first legislation in the history of Florida to put the issue of medical cannabis to a vote. Observing that ” In Florida, seven people a day… die from using prescription drugs. No one on Florida dies from medicinal cannabis”, Rep Clemens also notes the “pill mill” problem in Florida, which sells 85% of the Oxycodone in America – “To me it makes absolutely no sense that we would not allow people to use a safer drug – something that helps with their issues, yet doesn’t cause all the problems that some of those prescription narcotics cause”. Patients and advocacy organizations were represented, including:
* Cathy Jordan, with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease): http://ALSandCannabis.com/
* Mary Lynn Mathre, from Patients Out of Time: http://MedicalCannabis.com/
* Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access: http://www.veteransformedicalmarijuana.org
* People United for Medical Marijuana: http://pufmm.org/
* Florida Cannabis Action Network: http://flcan.org/