The debate over legalizing medical marijuana in Florida constantly generates talk of young people potentially flooding the polls. But seniors are the most reliable voters and could be key to the outcome of the measure.

Though polling on Amendment 2 has been erratic, seniors have been showing a level of interest in the initiative that underscores the fact they may benefit most from its passage.

“You get older, you get sick, you start getting diseases, your bones stop working as well as they used to and you’re presented with this pharmacopoeia of different drugs that you have to take just to get through the day,” said Ben Pollara, who leads United for Care, the pro-Amendment 2 campaign. “To the extent that seniors can use marijuana to supplement or replace any of those drugs I think is a good thing.”

Similar arguments have been made by older people themselves, who have turned up at events across the state, even when they’ve been intended for more youthful crowds. Such was the case at a recent forum at Broward College: It was held at an on-campus theater, with a promise of pizza for the droves of young people who passed by. But inside, the audience was full of faces far older than expected.

Among those who attended was M.J. Seide of Hollywood, who pays about $450 for an ounce of marijuana every six weeks to help her avoid painkillers that left her incapacitated and worried about addiction. She begins to explain her congenital disease, countless surgeries and the pills doctors pumped her full of, when her phone brings things to a pause.

“My stuff is in,” she says, before adding: “At 64, I’m a criminal because I have to buy this stuff on the street.”

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