As Floridians head to the polls in November, a presidential election year, they will see a familiar amendment on the ballot: medical marijuana.
As of Wednesday, supporters collected 693,000 signatures in 14 congressional districts. That is enough to get the amendment on the ballot, which would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients with debilitating conditions.
From his firm's offices in downtown Orlando, John Morgan, of firm Morgan and Morgan, talked about his fight to have voters consider Amendment 2.
“I look at this as a charity," said Morgan. "If we can pass this, 400,000 really sick and terminally ill people benefit day one.”
Morgan, who is the Chairman of United for Care, said the fight this isn’t political. For him, it’s personal. Morgan said he watched his brother suffer through his battle with head and neck cancer.
The attorney was behind a big push leading to the 2014 election, when the medical marijuana amendment fell just short of passing, at 58%. It takes a 60% majority to pass and change the state’s constitution.
There are existing medicinal marijuana laws on the books in our state, centered around the Charlotte’s Web strain, low in THC, that helps mainly children. But according to Morgan, such strains won’t help the larger population of people who are suffering from life-altering conditions such as ALS, epilepsy, PTSD and cancer.
“We’re talking about the people who are sickest and most injured among us," said Morgan. "We’re talking about compassionate care for the people who deserve compassion, more than anybody else in Florida.”
The lawyer said he feels they’ll be more successful this time around, as they’ve clarified the proposed amendment to close certain loopholes.
Yet, spreading the message and educating people via billboards and advertising is a costly endeavor. So far, the lawyer said he's spent seven million dollars, and will spend whatever it takes to get the amendment passed this November.