GROUP PUSHES FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

BRADENTON - Cathy Jordan credits marijuana for keeping her alive.

The 58-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease
when she was 36, has begun to lose control of her voice and hands.

She and her husband, Bob, have become advocates for the legalization
of marijuana.

"We don't know why it works, it just does," said Bob, sitting next to
his wife Wednesday evening at a meeting held at the Manatee Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship. "We're in this to fight till the end."

Cathy Jordan smokes about one or two marijuana cigarettes per night.
Without them, she says, she will die.

The couple was among a dozen supporters who met Wednesday to advocate
the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Noelle Davis, a federal policies consultant for the Marijuana Policy
Project, said the Jordans are not alone.

Davis has traveled throughout Florida and other parts of the South
speaking to groups, encouraging activism and awareness.

"We can break the shame and the silence of this issue," she
said.

The vision of Davis's group is to legalize marijuana for both
medicinal and recreational use. The meeting on Wednesday focused on
medicinal purposes.

Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube said he's not against the federal
government growing and dispensing the drug for medical uses, but his
experience in law enforcement has led him to believe it should not be
legalized for everyone.

"I understand those on the other side of the fence will argue that
it's good for glaucoma or cancer because it eases pain," Steube said.
"I am not against the U.S. government growing and dispensing through
a prescription."

The prolonged smoking of marijuana leads to it being stored in the
fatty tissues of the body such as the brain and reproductive organs,
which can lead to health defects, he said.

He said he doesn't remember ever arresting anyone on drug charges who
claimed the drug was for medicinal purposes.

According to Davis, there are only a handful of people who have legal
prescriptions receiving 300 marijuana cigarettes. She would like to
see legislators both at a state and federal level make it so those
with medical conditions can qualify for use.

"There are people who need this to survive. This is not about having
a party," she said.

Marijuana is considered the No. 2 drug of choice in Manatee County,
he said. Cocaine is the most popular.

Most of the marijuana found by investigators is imported from Mexico.