John Morgan not counting on youth vote in second attempt for medical marijuana
John Morgan is circling the ring for round two in a fight to allow doctors to include marijuana in patient’s treatment plans. Morgan spent about $5 million promoting a medicinal marijuana initiative, Amendment 2, during the 2014 election.
The Orlando attorney chairs People United for Medical Marijuana, the group that proposed the 2014 amendment and Monday will start a petition gathering effort for a 2016 proposal. Morgan filed the proposal Thursday with the Secretary of State office.
This time around Morgan said he is not sure how much of his own money he will put into the effort.
“Whenever I go to Las Vegas I’m not quite sure how much I will spend at the blackjack table until I sit down. So, I’m going to have to sit down at the table and see how the cards are coming, see how I feel and determine what I will do,” Morgan said during a Friday news conference.
He also told reporters he intends to gather the 700,000 signatures needed for ballot placement by March. Earlier in the day, campaign manager Ben Pollara had said the goal was 100,000
Below is a transcript of the Morgan news conference, edited for brevity and clarity. He addresses revisions to the previous proposal, lessons learned during the 2014 campaign and why he thinks it makes sense for the Florida Legislature to address the issue in 2015.
Morgan started the news briefing with a brief statement.
We have filed a new petition for 2016 the language and the essence of the amendment is essentially the same. What I would say is we have tweaked or clarified positions that were constantly brought up by our opposition to help us talk more freely about the real issue; which is the legalization of medical marijuana rather than things that were really not true.
The amendment is the same with clarification and tweaking so it should be on line at the Secretary of State. We are going to be looking to get our signatures. We hope to have all of our signatures by the time the legislature convenes in March and we were extremely disappointed in losing but we were encouraged that we almost got to 60 percent – off year election with a low turnout.
We know that a lot of people want this but they didn’t want it as a constitutional amendment. And so we are hopeful that this time around we have learned lessons from 2014 and be more effective in 2016.
So, I’ll let that stand and I’ll let you all ask questions.
What did you specifically think you needed to tweak the language on?
“Whenever I would go out on debate and have conversations people would talk about this constitutional amendment would allow children to get medical marijuana from their doctor. Well, that was not true. What we’ve done with that for example is we’ve added additional protections requiring the Department of Health to verify parental consent.
One of the things we heard a lot about is that doctors were going to be given immunity from civil liability, well that was never the truth but here this new amendment states specifically that negligence and malpractice are not subject to immunity under the law.
One of the things we heard a lot about was that the caregivers could be drug dealers. As ridiculous as that was some people believed it, it wasn’t true. Here we are more specific and we say the Department of Health is specifically required to establish qualifications and standards for caregivers including the state’s ability to conduct appropriate background checks.
And then when we get to debilitating illnesses we are very specific there and say the conditions must be debilitating and more specifically this amendment rules out non debilitating conditions. So if a doctor starts prescribing this for non-debilitating illnesses they would be opening themselves up for civil liability.
So those are the types of things, it is essentially the same except the so-called loopholes I’m addressing this go around.
Don’t you think the opponents will find loopholes no matter what?
I do. Here’s what we know for certain. We know this amendment in 2014 got 500,000 votes more than Rick Scott. We know it got 600,000 votes more than Charlie Crist. We know it got more votes than any other state-wide candidate.
We know that 58 percent of the people who voted want it, so the majority of Floridians. We also know that a lot of Floridians want it but they did not want it in the form of a constitutional amendment. And so, look, I’ve never had such appreciation for the number 60 as I do now.
There will be people against this no matter what, who will raise issues. But hopefully by addressing these issues – look, every time I would debate Grady Judd (Polk County Sheriff) he would say to me, ‘John, I agree with you. I think your brother should have this but I don’t like it this way because of the loopholes. I wish it was done in the Florida Legislature.’
And one of the hopes I have this go around is that the Florida Legislature will be open-minded and take this up legislatively.
Some of the lessons learned from the first attempt?
I spent a lot of time and money trying to get young people to come out and vote. It works to a degree but not nearly for what the money and effort that I put in. Where we really got hurt were voters 65 and older. And when we get to 75 and older we really got hurt. What I think I need to do better this time is talk to older voters, and by the way I’m almost one of them. I’m not calling the kettle black.
To do a better job of explaining to older voters that number one, you’re the ones who are going to benefit the most from this. And to explain to them what it does and take away some of the scare tactics that scared them the last time.
I don’t think I did a good job there. Doing it again I would save more of my money for the end and spend more television advertising talking to voters 65 and older.
If the loopholes are closed do you think you can get Sheriff Judd’s support this time?
I have unbelievable respect for him. I think there might be a chance I don’t know. He’s called me today; I have not returned his phone call yet. But, Grady Judd is someone I plan on sitting down with.
Are you talking about getting all 700,000 signatures March of this year?
March of this year. You got to remember one of the advantages that I have now is that I have the names, the addresses, the email addresses of everyone who signed my petition and was validated by the Supervisor of Elections in their county.
The last go around I’m out at malls and sporting events having tourists sign petitions. I know exactly where to go to get my petitions signed. I don’t have to spend the time or the money. I know their address, I know their zip code, I know their email address. That’s where I spent a lot of money and time and I won’t have to do that this time.
How much money are you willing to spend this time around?
I don’t know for sure. I do know this time we have proven to people all over the country that this is a possibility in Florida. I can tell you that I’m starting with a whole bunch of people financially supporting this from the get go.
I don’t know how much that I’m willing to spend myself. Whenever I go to Las Vegas I’m not quite sure how much I will spend at the blackjack table until I sit down. So, I’m going to have to sit down at the table and see how the cards are coming, see how I feel and determine what I will do.
Do you think the Legislature will address the issue this session?
I know that Matt Gaetz said that Charlotte’s Web never would have happened not for our effort. I think there’s a good possibility, I’ll tell you why. I think the Republicans who really control our state, I think if you ask them they would say that a majority of Floridians want this.
And the second dynamic that they are going to have to think about is; do you want this amendment on a ballot during a presidential election? You don’t have to be a political genius to understand that this will benefit the Democratic nominee more than the Republican nominee.
Hopefully, practically they will think that through – listen I’ve had a lot of conversations with former Speakers of the House, former presidents, lobbyists who tell me, ‘You know John I agree with a lot of what you have said,’ and hopefully that will prevail in Tallahassee. We have a pretty reasonable group of leadership.
(From: Saint Peters Blog)
