Gerald Ensley: A step toward legalization? Hooray

Every time opponents talk about Florida's bid to allow medical marijuana, they throw out the same scare tactic: Medical marijuana will lead to legalized marijuana!

To which I say: Gee, I hope so.

Because marijuana should be legalized. And if it takes medical marijuana to start opening that door in Florida, bully for medical marijuana.

On Nov. 4, Florida voters will vote on three proposed amendments to the state constitution. Amendment 2 allows Florida residents to buy and use marijuana for medical conditions.

Already, 23 states and the District of Columbia have voted to permit medical marijuana.

Opponents recognize it's hard to argue against something that can reduce the suffering of dreadfully ill people. So they like to warm up with seemingly logical reasons to oppose Amendment 2: It's bad policy to make laws through constitutional amendments; medical marijuana will benefit big corporations not small businesses in Florida; medical marijuana will lead to stoned workers.

Of course, it's always been questionable policy to make laws through constitutional amendments — though that hasn't stopped the more than 120 amendments added to the Florida Constitution since 1970. Big business always dominates small business. And there are stoned workers even when marijuana is illegal.

(Last week, a state legislator fretted that the law will allow users to light up in restaurants and presumably make innocent people high through secondhand smoke — though Amendment 2 carries no provision to allow anyone to violate the state's 2003 ban on smoking in restaurants. But this is the same legislator who sponsored the Stand Your Ground gun bill; clearly he sees threats everywhere.)

But ultimately, the opponents are all afraid of the same thing: Medical marijuana is the gateway to legalized marijuana. They're right.

Two states have legalized marijuana, Colorado and Washington. Two more states, Alaska and Oregon, and the District of Columbia have it on the ballot Nov. 4.

All have made their march toward legalization through the "softer reforms" of decriminalization and medical marijuana. Colorado and D.C. both decriminalized marijuana possession and allowed medical marijuana sales. Alaska, Oregon and Washington have allowed medical marijuana.

This is how progress works: One step at a time.

"We haven't seen any state go from zero to hero," said Allen St. Pierre, the longtime executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Washington, D.C. "There is always a period of softer reforms. And because they don't cause much, if any, tumult, it's easy to argue for more expansive reforms later on."

Right about now, opponents are yelling, "See? You're making our case! This is going to lead to full legalization!"

Again, let us hope so. Almost all experts agree marijuana is less injurious to people's health than alcohol and tobacco — which are legal. Surveys show half of Americans have tried pot — even though it's illegal.

Why do we continue to make criminals out of people for something they continue to use — and which many medically need?

It can only be phony morality: Marijuana has been illegal, therefore it should remain illegal.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.

"When Congress created the controlled substances act of 1970, it put marijuana in the list of Schedule 1 drugs with heroin and LSD," St. Pierre said. "You don't need a degree in pharmacology to know marijuana has been mis-scheduled by placing it with heroin and LSD.

"So the federal government put themselves in this pickle by coming up with such a ridiculous standard for cannabis. So when you ask citizens to break this Gordian knot, they often have by voting for (reform)."

Amendment 2 is no slam dunk. Since 2006, Florida law has required that a constitutional amendment receive a 60-percent majority to be approved.

A year ago, polls were showing Amendment 2 would pass with as much as 78 percent of the vote. As of last week — thanks to millions of dollars spent by a small number of wealthy opponents — most polls say it won't attract 60-percent approval. At least one poll pegged the number as low as 48 percent.

"The 60-percent threshold is a real problem," St. Pierre said. "I'm sure it will pass with a majority (more than 50 percent). But it will be in the history books as a loser."

Since 1996, 30 of 36 states have passed a proposed marijuana reform measure. The four measures on the Nov. 4 ballot will be a litmus test for the movement.

According to the polls, St. Pierre said, the legalization measures in Oregon and D.C. appear likely to pass; Alaska is "a bit of a wobbler." And Florida's medical marijuana amendment looks iffy.

"From a reform standpoint, we'll take any victory and champion it," St. Pierre said. "If we were to lose all four, then I don't think the editorial writers, columnists and opinion makers would be wrong in musing that marijuana reform has hit its cultural peak and is on the way down.

"I don't believe that. But these elections will tell us where we're going."

Hopefully, in the right direction. Toward legalization.

Contact senior writer Gerald Ensley at gensley@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2310.