Parents lobby Florida lawmakers on medical marijuana

By Bill Cotterrell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – Parents of children suffering from severe epilepsy and other illnesses got a sympathetic reaction on Thursday from Florida lawmakers considering the legalization of a new marijuana strain that shows promising results for controlling seizures. "We don't have time to wait," said Paige Figi, the mother of a 7-year-old girl for whom the strain "Charlotte's Web" is named. Figi, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, told lawmakers during a three-hour committee hearing that her daughter could not leave Colorado, where "Charlotte's Web" is legal, because of her dependence on the specialized strain, which does not get users high. Figi's appearance came as organizers in Florida work to put a proposed constitutional amendment to allow medical use of marijuana on state ballots during the November congressional election, the latest effort in a national campaign to reform laws banning the drug.