Miamiflorida marijuanaflorida medical marijuanaMedical Marijuana

Florida Medical Marijuana Proposal To Be Reviewed By Supreme Court

Big Win For Medical Pot In Florida
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Lakewood, CO - MARCH, 4: Sales associate, Crystal Guess packages up a patient's cannabis inside a Good Meds medical cannabis center in Lakewood, Colorado, U.S., on Monday, March 4, 2013. This is at a Good Meds medical cannabis center in Lakewood, and is one of the facilities that Kristi Kelly, Co-Founder of Good Meds Network, operates. (Photo by Matthew Staver/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Thursday, organizers celebrated a big win for decriminalizing medical marijuana in Florida.

United For Care announced they had obtained over 100,000 signatures in one month, which is more than enough to initiate the first step in getting the initiative on the 2014 ballot: a Supreme Court review of the proposal language.

"Floridians deserve the right to medical marijuana if their doctors decide it is the right remedy for their debilitating illnesses," United For Care's Ben Pollara wrote. "It is time for us to do what our legislature should have done - grant access to those who need it."

In the 2012-2013 legislative session, a bill legalizing medical cannabis didn't even get a committee hearing while a bong ban made it to Gov. Rick Scott's desk.

There's still a long way to go. The group still needs 583,149 verified voter signatures needed by February 1 to get the measure on the 2014 November ballot.

It will then need 60 percent approval from voters in order to be made a state constitutional amendment.

A recent poll indicated that 70 percent of Floridians support legalizing medical marijuana.

"This isn't Cheech and Chong," United For Care's John Morgan, who has family members who need medical cannabis, said. "This is people who have ALS, bone cancer where the pain is unrelenting, MS where their body is withering away. It wasn't party lights and strobe music with my dad and brother. It was just peace and lack of pain."

United For Care's proposal allows only "tightly controlled, medically prescribed uses of marijuana," according to the Tampa Bay Times, "prohibiting home growing and and without contributing to recreational use."

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Before You Go

16 Facts About Marijuana And The U.S. Economy
$13.7 Billion Saved On Prohibition Enforcement Costs(01 of16)
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The government would save an estimated $13.7 billion on prohibition enforcement costs and tax revenue by legalizing marijuana, according to a paper endorsed by 300 economists. (credit:AP)
Marijuana Inmates Cost Prisons $1 Billion A Year(02 of16)
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Inmates incarcerated on marijuana-related charges cost U.S. prisons $1 billion annually, according to a 2007 study, AlterNet reports. (credit:AP)
Marijuana Prohibition Costs Taxpayers $41.8 Billion A Year(03 of16)
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Including lost tax revenues, a 2007 study found that enforcing the marijuana prohibition costs tax payers $41.8 billion annually, Forbes reports. (credit:AP)
California Marijuana Crop Worth $14 Billion A Year(04 of16)
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Marijuana growers account for $14 billion a year in sales in California, making it the state's most valuable cash crop, TIME reports. (credit:AP)
Illegal Marijuana A $36 Billion A Year Industry(05 of16)
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It's estimated that illegal marijuana is a $36 billion industry in the U.S., MadameNoire reports. (credit:AP)
One-Third Of Americans Think Legalization Would Boost The Economy(06 of16)
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About one-third of Americans say they think legalizing marijuana would boost the economy, according to a 2010 poll by Associated Press-CNBC. (credit:AP)
Dispensary Ads Boost Newspapers' Revenue(07 of16)
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The Sacramento News and Review saw a big boost in ad revenue when it offered advertising space for more than 60 medical marijuana dispensaries, enabling the publication to hire three additional employees, according to News 10. (credit:AP)
Mendocino Zip Tie Program Raised $600,000(08 of16)
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Mendocino County, California's zip tie program aimed at regulating medical marijuana growing by charging permits for each plant raised $600,000 in revenue in for the Sheriff's department in 2011. (credit:AP)
Oakland Raised More Than $1 Million In Marijuana Tax Revenue(09 of16)
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The city of Oakland, California raised $1.3 million in tax revenue from medical marijuana dispensaries in 2011, 3 percent of the city's total business tax revenue, according to The New York Times. (credit:AP)
Colorado Pulls In $5 Million From Pot Sales Tax(10 of16)
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In 2011, Colorado pulled in $5 milllion in sales taxes from medical marijuana businesses, The New York Times reports. (credit:AP)
Legal Marijuana Could Be $100 Billion Industry(11 of16)
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Economist Stephen Easton estimated in 2010 that legal marijuana could be a $45 to $100 billion industry, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. (credit:AP)
Each weGrow Center Creates 75 Jobs(12 of16)
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When hydroponic marijuana growing supply chain weGrow opens a new store it creates an estimated 75 jobs indirectly, according to AZBusiness Magazine. (credit:AP)
Majority Of States Support Taxing Marijuana(13 of16)
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More than 60 percent of states agree with taxing marijuana, according to a poll by Associated Press-CNBC. (credit:AP)
Marijuana Affects Workplace Motivation(14 of16)
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A Norwegian study 25 years in the making came to the shocking conclusion that frequent marijuana use lowers employees' motivation at work.
More Than 1,000 Dispensaries In California(15 of16)
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There could be more than 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries operating in California, Pasadena Weekly reported in 2009. (credit:AP)
Denver Counts More Dispensaries Than Starbucks(16 of16)
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As of July 2011, the city of Denver counted more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks franchises. (credit:AP)
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