FLORIDA | House panel to explore cannabis legalization issues

FLORIDA | House panel to explore cannabis legalization issues

Wed, 12/11/2019 - 16:01
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With a marijuana legalization citizens’ initative barreling toward the 2020 ballot, yet another House panel will explore cannabis issues this week.

The Health Quality Subcommittee will hear Wednesday from out-of-state experts on public health concerns, potential trafficking issues, and “positive test results for cannabis in the workplace.”

Expect cautionary narratives.

Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, a senior economist for the Rand Corporation, will address “the economic and public health impact of recreational marijuana.”

Dr. Pacula sees positives and negatives, if her most recent publication on the subject is any indication. She believes medical cannabis programs increase adult cannabis use and potentially cannabis use disorders. Neither medical nor so-called recreational legalization causes an uptick in adolescent use of marijuana, but it brings a “potential” of increased college student usage.

Also on tap: a presentation on the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Traffic Area Report, from Ray Padilla, Task Force Officer, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Denver Division Investigations Group.

Padilla has described grow operations for the illegal cannabis market as “out of control.” The report, meanwhile, is established fodder for prohibitionists (and likely will be fodder for the campaign opposing recreational legalization).

It spotlights increases in emergency room visits, traffic fatalities, and adult use of marijuana.

Barry Sample, the Senior Director of Science and Technology for drug-testing giant Quest Diagnostics, will discuss positive drug tests for cannabis in the workplace.

Sample’s bias is toward maintaining the current drug testing schemes that make money for his company, as his most recent blog contends: “Today, our industry faces state marijuana legalization and an opioid crisis that was declared a national health emergency, claiming the lives of an estimated 130 Americans each day who overdose on opioids.”

“It’s clear that the risks of employee drug use extend far beyond transportation and heavy machinery accidents … customer-facing roles are certainly in a position to influence buyer decisions, customer satisfaction, and brand quality in a number of detrimental and hard-to-quantify ways,” Sample added.

These concerns are not theoretical for anti-cannabis forces. There will likely be a cannabis legalization amendment in front of 2020 voters, put forth by the Make It Legal Florida committee.

Financed by industry heavyweights Surterra and MedMen, a spokesman for the group told the Orlando Sentinel that it had 600,000 signatures collected already, putting it on pace to hit the 766,200 signature threshold.

Make It Legal Florida will face headwinds: Floridians Against Recreational Marijuana formed last month, with the backing of the national Coalition for Medical Cannabis.