Pubdate: Mon, 18 Aug 2014
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau
Page: 1A

PR WAR LOOMS OVER CANNABIS

It's 'Compassion for the Sick' Versus 'Devil in the Details' In 
Political TV Advertising

A burst of ads coming soon to TV screens in Florida will feature 
patients and doctors extolling the virtues of marijuana as a 
compassionate way to treat the sick and ease their pain.

The soft-sell campaign, a laid-back variation on the usual political 
pitch, is designed to promote a constitutional amendment on 
November's ballot to legalize medical marijuana.

Countering that message will be a rival set of ads warning that 
approval of the amendment would lead to widespread drug use, supplied 
by "pot docs" and "pot shops" at every turn.

The dueling ad campaigns will compete for attention amid political 
appeals from candidates for governor and other offices, adding to an 
expected deluge of election messages though late summer and early fall.

Neither side would say when its ads will start or how much it's 
planning to spend. But both sides are preparing to hit the airwaves 
with TV and radio spots while developing networks of campaign 
volunteers and delivering their messages on the Internet. It's not 
quite politics as usual.

"We're not in a partisan scrum. We're not in an attack-and-response 
mode," said Ben Pollara, campaign manager of United for Care, which 
is spearheading the marijuana amendment.

"We're just going to go out there and have people share their stories 
about how medical marijuana has affected them, or could have affected 
them, and their loved ones." The testimonials, he said, will come 
from patients, doctors and nurses.

He said 10,000 volunteers have signed up to help convey the message 
through phone calls, in-person talks and social media.

They will be pitching constitutional Amendment 2, which "allows the 
medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases 
as determined by a licensed Florida physician."

A more limited alternative was approved by the Republican-run 
Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott in June. It legalizes 
development and distribution of a non-euphoric strain of cannabis - 
dubbed Charlotte's Web - to help Florida residents who have cancer 
and other debilitating diseases.

Early polls indicate overwhelming public support for medical 
marijuana - by 88 percent in a statewide Quinnipiac University poll - 
but analysts expect a close vote on Amendment 2, which requires 60 
percent approval to become law.

Opponents, including law-enforcement groups and Republican leaders, 
say the amendment is full of loopholes that could allow unscrupulous 
"pot docs" to recommend the drug for recreational users.

"The thing I would be concerned about is the ruse of medicinal 
marijuana for purposes of allowing people basically to buy a joint 
and smoke it," U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told Florida reporters 
this month.

Nonprofit groups that oppose the measure have banded together under 
the Don't Let Florida Go to Pot coalition, which provides speakers at 
public forums. A separate group known as Vote No on 2 will lead the 
ad campaign.

A sample ad already has popped up on the Internet. The video shows 
scenes of children walking past marijuana stores in California, big 
piles of pot and derelicts puffing on pipes.

"They say they just want to help the sick, but that's not the whole 
story," a narrator intones. These scenes are interspersed with 
commentary from experts, such as lawyers and cops, who support the 
theme "The Devil is in the Details."

"A vote for Amendment 2 is a vote for legalization of marijuana 
forever in the state of Florida," Grady Judd, president of the 
Florida Sheriffs Association, tells viewers.

The coming air war will bring the debate into Floridians' living rooms.

"There's certainly going to be enough spending to make it a salient 
issue, with both sides ramping up their ad buys," said Daniel Smith, 
political science professor at the University of Florida. He said 
this issue, highlighted by the ads, will prompt some voters to cast 
ballots who otherwise might not bother with a non-presidential election.

"It could turn out people who are not enamored of Republicans or 
Democrats but see this issue as important to them," Smith said. "They 
see the failure in Tallahassee to address this issue in any 
meaningful way and may be motivated to come to the polls."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom