WOMAN PUSHES STATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA VOTE

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, 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.

Sumter County Sheriff Bill Farmer, president of the Florida Sheriffs
Association, said his group is firmly opposed: "It's only going to
open up your state and make it easier to get."

Russell estimates 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 for Florida.

Russell said her group has budgeted $1.5 million to get the
initiative passed, but declined to say how much she has 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, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that
the Justice Department would no longer target medical-marijuana
dispensaries in 13 states that have medical-marijuana laws.

The would be 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."