Medical Marijuana in Florida – Take Two

Last November, voters (barely) said no to the ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana in the state of Florida. Also known as Amendment 2, the measure to legalize medical marijuana needed a super majority of over 60% to pass, but was only able to garner 57% come election time.  The medical marijuana ballot initiative had many supporters and many who were willing to do whatever it took to see Amendment 2 fail.

Casino mogul, Sheldon Adelson doubled down against the legalization of medical marijuana for $5.5 million; while lawyer John Morgan and the People United for Medical Marijuana raised roughly $8 million to try and see the amendment pass. Heading into the summer before the election, Amendment 2 looked good and showed promise. Polling just under 90% in favor of the legalization of medical marijuana, but as the months waned on Florida’s hopes of medical marijuana passing went up in smoke.

Fast forward almost eight months later, and John Morgan is at it again by writing a $150,000 check to try and revive the medical marijuana initiative and get it on the ballot in time for the 2016 elections. With high hopes to fair better in the next election, Florida may see the legalization of medical marijuana come next November.

Regardless of what side of the argument you find yourself, putting medical marijuana back on the ballot for 2016 is a solid strategy move. Historically speaking, voter turnout is higher during a presidential year, especially with Millennials. It should come as no shock when polled, Millennials were the highest in favor of the legalization of medical marijuana with a whopping 92% of people between the ages of 18-29 supporting the legalization of medical marijuana.

Legalizing medical marijuana would allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for debilitating medical conditions such as, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, hepatitis C, HIV, AIDS, ALS, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.

Not so fast…in order to get Amendment 2 back on the ballot, United for Care, the political group who is behind the proposal, would need to turn in 683,149 valid petition signatures to the Department of State by Feb. 1. Ten percent of those petitions have to be submitted to the Florida Supreme Court to trigger a review of the revamped initiative, now entitled “Use of Medical Marijuana for Debilitating Conditions.”

Between two Florida hometown favorites running for president, and the looming potential of a Bush/Clinton match up come next November, the legalization of medical marijuana may be the least of everyone’s concerns in the Sunshine state. If nothing else, grab a bag of Doritos and brace yourself for an interesting election cycle between the ballot initiatives and candidates, there will be no shortage of entertainment along the trail.