If at first you don’t succeed ...

In 2014, The News-Journal opposed an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would have permitted the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Our primary objection to the measure, which narrowly failed to garner the 60 percent approval from voters needed to pass, was that the conditions under which pot could be prescribed were open-ended, and thus subject to abuse by physicians. It could’ve legalized the use of marijuana far beyond the scope implied by the amendment’s ballot summary.

If at first you don’t succeed ...

Supporters of medical marijuana have returned this year with a new initiative, Amendment 2. It has been written to sufficiently address the concerns we and other opponents had of the previous measure. Therefore, we recommend a “yes” vote on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Two years ago, the amendment before voters stated it would allow the medical use of marijuana for individuals with “debilitating diseases,” which it defined as “cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient” (emphasis added). The vagueness of that italicized part was a potential loophole that could lead to a backdoor, de facto legalization of recreational use of marijuana. Regardless of where you stand on that issue, it should be decided separately, and explicitly, as other states have done.

Furthermore, giving physicians such broad latitude would have made a controlled substance less controllable, possibly leading to the same enforcement struggles Florida once faced with prescription drug “pill mills” (albeit without many of the same health risks of opioids).

The new Amendment 2 improves on the language. It, too, lists specific “debilitating medical conditions” a patient must have to obtain a doctor’s approval for medical marijuana, including cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, PTSD, but adds the line “or other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated” (emphasis added). That tighter definition should close the loophole.

The Florida Supreme Court agrees. In 2014, it only narrowly approved the amendment’s language by a 4-3 vote, with the three dissenting justices raising the same concerns that virtually any “condition” approved by a doctor — from minor headaches to test anxiety — would qualify for a marijuana prescription; Attorney General Pam Bondi also opposed the measure. However, in December the court was unanimous in approving the newly written Amendment 2, and Bondi raised no objections to it.

Amendment 2 also has better-defined rules on who can dispense medical marijuana, explicitly authorizing the Department of Health to write regulations, then run background checks and issue licenses to caregivers. That, too, closes a loophole and tightens enforcement of a controlled substance.

Ideally, the state’s marijuana laws would be crafted in the Legislature rather than enshrined in the Constitution, so they could be more easily tweaked according to circumstances. But legislators repeatedly have resisted the public’s demands for sensible regulations on pot that would provide compassionate relief for Floridians who suffer severe pain from debilitating conditions. The most Tallahassee has done is pass a law that allows for the use of a cannabis oil-based medicine in limited circumstances. It’s not enough.

Even after the 2014 proposed amendment earned nearly 58 percent support from the electorate, which demonstrated how much support exists for broader use of medicinal pot, the Legislature didn’t act. The ballot initiative process is the predictable response from a public that is tired of lawmakers’ obstinacy.

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia already allow medicinal use of marijuana. Amendment 2 is an appropriate vehicle for Florida to join the crowd. Vote “yes.”