“Our government suppressed this information from us for 70 years. I am
now an advocate for medical marijuana,” he spoke to the health board,
“You are horribly underestimating the number of people who are going
to need medical marijuana in this state. For this reason, my wife and
I are going to educate every person in this state about it.”
On January 3 of this year, Amendment 2 went into effect for the state of Florida regarding the use of cannabis for debilitating medical conditions. Retired Judge Doug Bench, was among a few members of the public who spoke in front of the health department during February 6-8 Public Workshop on the implementation of legal access to cannabis.
“I put 311 people in jail for marijuana offenses. I was wrong,” he began his speech.
Two years ago Doug got diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The mainstream treatment was pharmaceutical drugs, which only manage the symptoms. The medications can also cause sickening effects and even account for E.R. visits. Luckily for Doug, his wife researched potential treatment options, looked into cannabis and went to Colorado to purchase cannabis oil. Her husband was hesitant to try it and fought tooth and nail.
“It was a tough decision. I hated marijuana. I hated the use of marijuana and the violation of the law. But I had no choice if I wanted to live. I had to violate Florida law,” he said.
After trying it, he was amazed at how just one drop a night improved his condition. He now says his past actions haunt him daily and today he focuses on educating the public on the medical benefits of cannabis and helps others understand the medical benefits.
You can hear more about Retired Judge Doug Bench's "interesting" change of heart on this episode of Cannabis Health Radio that you don’t want to miss...
~Quixotic Malcontent