Another change to adopt a medical marijuana constitutional amendment in Florida

Let the debate begin again. A fresh medical marijuana citizen initiative found success this week with enough signatures to earn a place on the November ballot, appearing as Amendment 2. A similar constitutional amendment failed by a slim margin in 2014, just two percentage points below the 60 percent approval required for passage.

This time, United for Care rewrote the amendment to address opposition concerns about lax language that would open the door to drug abuse. Doctors would be allowed to recommend marijuana for patients suffering "debilitating conditions" such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis or epilepsy.

With stricter medical requirements -- and a higher voter turnout for a presidential election -- Amendment 2 stands a far greater chance of passage.

Then Florida would join 23 other states and Washington, D.C. with medical marijuana laws. (Four have legalized cannabis for recreational use.)

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Another change to adopt a medical marijuana constitutional amendment in Florida ."