Pubdate: Thu, 09 Oct 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: Dan Sweeney
Page: B1

'YES ON 2' BUS TOURS S. FLORIDA

Medical Marijuana Backers Spread Message, Stop for Debates in Delray, 
Hallandale

People United for Medical Marijuana is taking its campaign to the 
streets - literally.

Which is why a big blue bus with "Vote Yes On 2" pulled into 
Gulfstream Park, a gambling mecca in Hallandale Beach.

Most folks here come for the thoroughbred racing or the slots. But 
not today at Christina Lee's, the racino's Asian eatery. Here, after 
a buffet featuring egg rolls and fried rice, the South Florida Tiger 
Bay Club heard a debate between Ben Pollara, the campaign manager for 
People United, and an opponent of Amendment 2, Javier Correoso.

The Tiger Bay Club is a nonpartisan political discussion group that 
hosts debates on the issue of the day. And these days, it's medical marijuana.

Pollara has stopped counting how many debates he's done in all. "I 
once did seven in six days," he said.

As the emcee announced the two men and described the amendment, a 
woman toward the front of the restaurant called out, "Are there samples?"

The crowd, mostly seniors and middle-aged folks, cracked up. But they 
settled down as Correoso asked, "Can anyone here remember the last 
time Jeb Bush and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz agreed on anything?" 
Silence. "Well," Correoso said, "they agree on this."

Both politicians have come out against Amendment 2. Correoso didn't 
speak out against medical marijuana per se, but instead attacked the 
wording of the amendment as being too vague.

Pollara replied to Correoso's concerns with the opinion of the 
Florida Supreme Court, which stated that the intent of the amendment 
is "to allow [marijuana] use for a serious medical condition or 
disease," rather than for any medical condition.

Once they wrapped up, the first question from the audience was, 
"Where will there be grow houses?"

Of course, there's no direct answer for that. Should the amendment 
pass, the entire structure behind the growth and supply of marijuana 
would have to be implemented and regulated by the state Department of Health.

Then state Sen. Gwen Margolis raised her hand. "The amendment is 
broad, but it is purposefully broad," she said. "We will implement it 
if it passes."

While the amendment calls on the Department of Health to regulate the 
medical marijuana industry, it also allows the legislature to 
implement laws governing the industry.

Finally, it was out the door to the 50-foot Yes on 2 bus, which was 
waiting to take Pollara, deputy finance director Jennifer Rojo, and 
campaign strategist Brian Franklin to the next stop in Delray Beach.

Inside the bus, LED lights on the ceiling shift slowly from yellow to 
white to blue to green to purple and back again. The eight circular 
lights surround murals reminiscent of peacock feathers.

"The bus was an in-kind donation," Pollara explains. "It cost us 
about $10,000 to wrap it [in the Amendment 2 logo] and about $1,000 a 
day to run it."

As the bus barreled down I-95, a beat-up white sedan beeped its horn 
staccato as it whipped by.

Pollara has worked on campaigns in Florida since 2002, but this is 
the biggest campaign he has ever managed.

"A year ago, it was just me and Brian Franklin," he said as the bus 
pulled up to the South County Civic Center in Delray Beach. "Now, 
we've got maybe 15 people on staff."

In Delray, Pollara stood in front of a room of about 70 people, and 
introduced Sue Taylor, a former Catholic school principal from San Francisco.

"Have any of you all seen 'Reefer Madness'?" Taylor asked, refering 
to the 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film. "Well, that's what I 
thought of marijuana. I thought it was a hard drug, like heroin."

But she changed her mind, and it was the struggle of her fellow 
seniors that convinced her.

"I saw people who were taking 10 or 20 pills a day," she said. "You 
have to find another way."

Pollara next introduced Dr. Anne Morgan, a medical doctor preaching 
the benefits of medical marijuana. "If you take just one thing from 
this, please Google endocannabinoid system," she said. She explained 
that recent studies have found that compounds in marijuana can 
protect against Alzheimer's disease.

Most of the questions from the audience centered on the idea that the 
amendment could mean de facto legalization of marijuana. One 
questioner cited California as an example. Pollara allowed that 
California's laws essentially allowed medical pot use for almost any 
reason, but added it doesn't follow that Florida will tread a similar path.

At the next stop, Florida Atlantic University, Pollara rallied the 
troops at the campus's free speech zone. Maybe 20 or 30 volunteers 
marched with him, chanting "Yes on 2! Yes on 2!" Confused college 
students rode by on longboards, staring openly.

In a room at Live Oak Pavilion, Pollara took the stage for the third 
time in a day, this time across from Jessica Spencer, the Vote No 
Statewide Coalition Director.

It was a room full of college students - tough crowd for Spencer. She 
listed many of the same problems Correoso had earlier in the day. The 
fact that caregivers need only be age 21 and the amendment allows for 
"conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of 
marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."

Pollara was like Barry Bonds playing softball.

"Imagine this drug dealer that everyone's afraid of," he said. "This 
guy - or girl - goes and gives their name to the state, gets a 
state-issued ID, and then goes to a marijuana dispensary, cameras 
everywhere, to buy medical marijuana. Does anyone think this is going 
to happen?"

Shouts of "No!" around the room. Spencer never had a chance.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom