ORLANDO MOM BEGINS CRUSADE TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE

TALLAHASSEE -- A self described stay-at-home mom from Orlando who
wants better treatment options for her ailing father is launching a
drive to put medical marijuana on the 2010 ballot.

Kim Russell, a third-generation Floridian and founder of People
United for Medical Marijuana, (PUFMM,) said she is not a marijuana
user and is not trying to get pot legalized in Florida. She just
wants her 62-year-old father to get the most effective drug for his
Parkinson's disease.

"It breaks my heart that he could not get medicine that could help
him avoid brain surgery," she said.

Russell estimates that there are 1.7 million seriously ill Floridians
who could benefit from the medical use of marijuana, everyone from
breast cancer patients to people suffering from glaucoma and chronic
pain.

Using that population base, an average $5,000-per-year prescription
cost and an 8 percent sales tax, Russell estimates the industry could
generate $200 million a year in direct revenue alone for Florida.

Russell said her group has set a "budget" of $1.5 million to get the
initiative passed, but declined to say how much she has already
raised. Collecting the more than 676,000 signatures necessary will be
difficult, she acknowledged, but she is encouraged by recent news
from the Obama Administration.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the
Justice Department would no longer target medical-marijuana
dispensaries in 13 states that have medical-marijuana laws, a
departure from the Bush Administration, which contended that the
states are violating federal statutes.

The proposed state constitutional amendment would permit, "the
cultivation, purchase, possession and use of marijuana," to treat a
host of ailments, "or other diseases and conditions when recommended
by a physician."

Russell said the group may use paid petition gatherers.

"If we have to," she said. "Right now, we're using volunteers."