A Democratic lawmaker's push to legalize medical marijuana in Florida has re-ignited a smoldering debate over the health effects of cannabis.

Supporters of prescription pot say the age-old weed can relieve certain medical conditions naturally, safely and for less cost than pharmaceuticals.

Opponents question its medicinal value and call Rep. Jeff Clemens' campaign a Trojan horse for wholesale legalization of the drug.

The Lake Worth Democrat's House Joint Resolution 1407 would, if passed by the Legislature, allow Floridians to vote on a constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana. If approved by at least 60 percent of voters, Florida would become the 15th state to permit prescription pot.

Medical studies continue to split over the issue, and the federal government, for all its drug-enforcement efforts, appears to be working both sides of the street.

Since 2003, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has owned a patent (No. 6,630,507) to "Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants."

According to the government's patent application: “Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties. ... This newfound property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of a wide variety of oxidation-associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

"The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.”

At a news conference at the Legislature last week, Mary Mathre, who heads the health-advocacy group Patients Out of Time, said marijuana has been besmirched by "lies, myths and racism."

Mathre, a registered nurse from Franklin County, said "the research is overwhelmingly supportive of cannabis. It supports a variety of ailments, and can provide much relief to pain and suffering. Patients are in desperate need."

Among the needy Floridians are military veterans, said Mathre, a Navy vet who serves on the advisory board of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.

Last July, the U.S. undersecretary of health for veteran affairs issued an order authorizing health-care providers to prescribe medical cannabis to veterans who live in a state where medical marijuana is legal.

"Florida's veterans have earned their freedom of choice," said Mathre, who added that medical marijuana "has a remarkable safety record."

But skeptics note that marijuana proponents have backed off apocryphal claims that pot "cures" glaucoma. Critics, including physicians, point to new medical treatments that surpass pot's real or imagined therapeutic value in alleviating nausea.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based Institute of Medicine, six classes of drugs and multiple surgical techniques are available to treat glaucoma by reducing high intraocular pressure. 


Conversely, other studies report that smoked marijuana has been shown to cause a variety of health problems, including cancer, respiratory problems, increased heart rate and loss of motor skills.

Furthermore, these studies say, marijuana can affect the immune system by impairing the ability of T-cells to fight off infections, endangering people with already-compromised immune systems.

As for nausea relief, physicians say that advances in chemotherapy regimens and patient prep have lessened that procedure's side effects.

The back-and-forth debate is illustrated in seemingly conflicting positions espoused by the Florida Medical Association.

At one time, the FMA had two actual policies, as a result of two different resolutions. But both of those policies were allowed to sunset and the physicians' association now has none.

"Some of the pro-legalization folks like to say that the FMA 'endorsed' medical marijuana," said spokeswoman Erin VanSickle. "Instead, the resolution they reference seemed to support further study into its benefits and efficacy.