On Monday, the Florida Supreme Court approved a medicinal marijuana bill that will be included on the November 2014 general election ballot. Overall, the Orlando Sentinel reported, the marijuana issue is “broadly popular with Florida voters.” The news is a cause for celebration with groups in the state who have been tirelessly petitioning to add medical marijuana to the ballot — including the ever-present pack of petitioners outside the Alachua County Library.
As more states pass legislation allowing the sale of medical marijuana, the country seems to be warming up to the idea. According to a Pew Research Center report from April, a national survey found that 52 percent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana while 45 percent do not. According to the report, support for the drug’s legalization has risen 11 points since 2010.
Of course, the bill that will appear on the November ballot supports medicinal marijuana use — not recreational. So we were surprised when Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford released the following statement to the Orlando Sentinel.
“Make no mistake,” he said, “this is not about compassionate medical marijuana. This is about the Coloradofication of Florida, where the end game is a pot shop on every street corner.”
The medical marijuana debate is murky; many assume that its legalization for medicinal purposes will inevitably lead to the legalization of its recreational use or that regulation will be minimal and allow for many people to abuse the system.
In Florida, however, it’s far too early to tell, and the general public still has nine months to decide its stance. In that time, advocates for medical marijuana such as Ben Pollara, the campaign manager of United For Care, will be working to educate the public on the benefits marijuana has for people suffering from debilitating diseases such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C or “other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient,” according to the Sentinel.
Furthermore, comparing Florida to Colorado is like comparing apples to oranges — or recreational weed to oranges. Republicans in the Florida Senate are sensing their power is slipping; Rick Scott’s approval rating is slipping in favor of Charlie Crist, according to the Miami Herald, and politicians like Weatherford are grasping at straws to condemn a bill that’s almost guaranteed to pass. Their scare tactics and sensationalized claims, however, won’t be able to match the aggressive efforts of the bill’s champion, John Morgan, an Orlando trial lawyer who has invested heavily in the cause.
“I think the amendment kind of passes itself. It’s like ‘Are you in favor of fresh air?’” Morgan told the Sentinel. “But with that said, at Morgan and Morgan we don’t take anything for granted. Something that seems obvious might not be, so we will play it as if we’re behind. That’s how we will treat this campaign.”
[A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 1/30/2014 under the headline "Relax, Weatherford: Florida won’t become ‘Coloradoized’']
