Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jun 2014
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2014 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Note: Named the St. Petersburg Times from 1884-2011.
Author: Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Page: B1

POT FOES GET BILLIONAIRE ALLY

Casino Magnate Sheldon Adelson Puts $2.5M in the Fight Against 
Medical Marijuana

TALLAHASSEE - Opponents to a proposed constitutional amendment to 
legalize medical marijuana in Florida gained firepower Tuesday when 
campaign finance records showed that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson 
had cut a $2.5 million check to bankroll the opposition effort.

Also Tuesday, a coalition led by the Florida Sheriffs Association 
announced it was launching a separate statewide campaign to defeat 
the amendment, known as Amendment 2 on the November ballot.

The contribution by Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino 
empire and a heavy contributor to Gov. Rick Scott's re-election 
effort, not only juices the antimarijuana movement, it effectively 
brings the medical marijuana debate into this year's governor's race.

The largest proponent of Amendment 2 has been John Morgan, an Orlando 
trial lawyer and chief supporter of Scott's top Democratic rival, 
Charlie Crist.

Morgan, who employs Crist at his law firm, has spent $4 million 
bankrolling United For Care, the petition-initiative that brought the 
constitutional amendment to the ballot. He has vowed to spend more 
money to get the 60 percent majority needed for it to become law.

The newly formed group backed by Adelson, the Drug Free Florida 
Committee, was started by longtime GOP fundraiser Mel Sembler and his 
wife, Betty. It has raised $2.7 million so far and its top donors 
have been primarily Republicans.

Working separately to oppose Amendment 2 is the Florida Sheriffs 
Association, which has joined the "Don't Let Florida Go to Pot" 
coalition. The group relies on the same claims that opponents used 
when they argued before the Florida Supreme Court that the amendment 
will open the door to "unfettered" access to marijuana because of a 
poorly worded amendment and loosely regulated system.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected the claims by opponents that the 
amendment will enable the backdoor legalization of pot in January 
when it ruled 4-3 that the amendment was narrowly drawn to limit all 
use of debilitating illnesses.

"This amendment as a matter of fact is a wolf in sheep's clothing," 
said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, president of the Florida 
Sheriff's Association.

He warned that the proposed amendment is "cleverly written" for "use 
and abuse," will lead to children legally obtaining marijuana and 
predicted crime rates will soar.

"You will pay more taxes because it's going to take more policing," he said.

Medical marijuana advocates reject the dire predictions as hyperbole 
and say it is not shared by most Floridians.

Meanwhile, two statewide polls released Tuesday reaffirmed a familiar 
trend: medical marijuana legalization has overwhelming support across Florida.

A poll by United for Care found that about 70 percent of likely 
Florida voters support the proposal, while another poll released by 
Public Policy Polling found about 66 percent support for Amendment 2.

"This support is broad-based and spans the electorate regardless of 
partisan, regional, or racial lines," pollsters Anzalone Liszt Grove 
Research/Public Opinion Strategies wrote in an analysis of the United 
for Care survey.

But Calvina Fay, director of the St. Petersburg-based Drug Free 
America, which is also funded by Sembler, predicted the amendment 
would lead to "the Wild Wild West of potent marijuana products." She 
said "there literally could be drug dealers that could administer this."

The amendment requires doctors and patients to be certified before 
receiving marijuana through authorized dispensaries. It names nine 
eligible medical conditions: cancer; glaucoma; human immunodeficiency 
virus infection, or HIV; acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS; 
hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS; Crohn's disease; 
Parkinson's disease; and multiple sclerosis.

Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, said opponents 
"appear to be intent on confusing voters."

"Our opponents can keep trotting out the same discredited talking 
points for months, but the people of Florida are smarter than that 
and will approve Amendment 2 this fall," he said. "And poll after 
poll shows that."

"This Amendment is vulnerable and can be defeated, despite the 
millions of dollars that have already been spent on it," said Sarah 
Bascom, Vote No on 2's spokeswoman, in a written statement. "It also 
means that once Floridians start to learn the truth about the 
Amendment and are educated on the loopholes, support drops."

Miami Herald reporter Marc Caputo contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom