We’re five months away from the November elections, but already the medical marijuana battle in Florida is ramping up.
Polls show that support for Florida’s Amendment 2 – which would legalize cannabis for certain qualifying medical conditions -has anywhere between 60 and 88 percent support. But backers say that isn’t enough to coast to victory. According to Florida law, constitutional amendments proposed in ballot measures have to pass with 60 percent of the vote.
Only 2,342 people have signed up for medical cannabis in New Jersey, far fewer than were initially expected. But the problem likely isn’t due to a lack of interest it’s due to a lack of access.
As we’ve reported in the last few months, the program has been criticized for how slowly it came online and with how tight rules and regulations have prevented medical marijuana dispensaries from opening up and increasing access to patients.
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Medical marijuana patients should not be allowed to smoke cannabis, nor should they be allowed to share it with other patients. That’s the decree from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who says a medical marijuana proposal currently locked in state Senate committees needs major overhauls before he would ever consider signing it.
Also, if you fake an ailment for a recommendation, it should be a felony.
Drug Free Florida, the group that is putting on the full-court press to get Floridians to vote against medical marijuana, has been active in getting its message out, particularly with videos and with big-time donors coming from the woodwork to finance the cause.
But as much as the group wants to “educate” the state on the supposed dangers of medical marijuana, it sure has surrounded itself with what United for Care Campaign Manager Ben Pollara calls “questionable characters.” Most notable is the recent $2.5 million donation from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
“The Anti-Amendment 2 movement is now showing its true face,” Pollara says. “Now more than ever, the people behind Drug Free Florida lack any moral standing to pronounce themselves on anything related to the health and well-being of Floridians.”
From a homophobe to a bigot, Drug Free Florida has been rallying major support from some, let’s call em dubious folks. Want to meet ’em? Well, neither do we — but you should at least know who they are. Broward-Palm Beach New Times has their bios.
| Say no to Sheldon Adelson and yes to legalized medical marijuana. |
Big-money casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who pimps sin on a daily basis, has jumped into the anti-medical marijuana fray by opening his deep wallet and donating $2.5 million to the Drug Free Florida campaign, the group looking to derail Florida’s Amendment 2 initiative.
Adelson has made a name for himself as one of the biggest donors to conservative movements and campaigns over the years and is widely known for his anti-Palestine stance. He once suggested that the U.S. should drop an “atomic weapon… in the middle of the [Negev]” and that the Palestinians are an “invented people.”
A poll in May found 88 percent of Florida voters supported medical marijuana. A March poll showed support at 74 percent. One from November had support at 82 percent.
So a bipartisan poll released today showing that only 70 percent of Floridians plan to vote to legalize medical marijuana in the state is a bit surprising. It follows a poll released on Tuesday that showed support down to 66 percent. Then again it’s hard to get more than 50 percent of Floridians to agree on anything and the amendment on November’s ballot needs just 60 percent support to pass. Miami New Times has more details.
Want to run Minnesota’s medical marijuana program? Sounds like it’d be an interesting gig, right? It also pays handsomely, with a salary in the range of $73,811 to $105,862. But before you start daydreaming about how many bags of Cheetos you could buy with that type of income, it should be noted that the job would be more about administration and analysis than cannabis, of course.
“This position will ensure proper direction and oversight is provided within a new division, the Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC), created within the Executive Office (EO) of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH),” the job post notes. “The Director of the OMC will create and oversee this new program and will report directly to the Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Initiatives.”
Job responsibilities include strategic planning, budgeting, hiring, reviewing research and literature related to the field, and sampling the marijuana extracts to make sure they’re up to par. Okay, we’re just kidding about that last one. Check out more over at the Minneapolis City Pages.
New York state Senate Finance Committee chairman John DeFrancisco will not allow the state senate to vote on a medical marijuana proposal this session. Despite major support for the bill and a Governor who says he’s willing to sign it, DeFrancisco says he can’t let it move forward because of his concerns with the health effects of marijuana.
“The Savino bill will not come out of my committee, the Finance Committee,” DeFrancisco told Gannett News Albany Bureau yesterday. “You don’t have any kind of reasonable research on the effects. You have people coming in here every day trying to ban e-cigarettes and use of tobacco in other ways.”
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Leading up to the statewide California election this past Tuesday, it is probably safe to say that a majority of voters in San Diego did not realize that they were casting ballots either for, or against, safe access to medical marijuana in the city.
There were no particular referendums for reefer, no specific ballot measures for medical marijuana, but the disappointing results in the city’s District Attorney race, and a rightward-shift in the too-powerful City Council, are reportedly the result of low voter turnout.
It was a tough day at the polls for pro-cannabis activists in America’s Finest City. Another in a disheartening string of crushing blows against any legitimacy for medical marijuana in San Diego.
A Canadian study shows what most any rational person can tell you: smoking marijuana doesn’t make people go crazy.
But alcohol does.