{"id":75777,"date":"2024-05-30T05:28:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T13:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/05\/30\/florida-lawyer-who-funded-medical-marijuana-campaign-backs-this-years-recreational-legalization-ballot-measure\/"},"modified":"2024-05-30T12:45:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T20:45:50","slug":"florida-lawyer-who-funded-medical-marijuana-campaign-backs-this-years-recreational-legalization-ballot-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/05\/30\/florida-lawyer-who-funded-medical-marijuana-campaign-backs-this-years-recreational-legalization-ballot-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Lawyer Who Funded Medical Marijuana Campaign Backs This Year\u2019s Recreational Legalization Ballot Measure"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was the governor of this state I would pardon every single person who\u2019s ever been arrested for marijuana. I\u2019d expunge all their records.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix<\/strong><\/p>\n

Orlando-based trial attorney and major Democratic fundraiser John Morgan, who spent more than\u00a0$8 million\u00a0of his own money to get medical marijuana legalized in Florida in 2016, announced on Wednesday that he is supporting Amendment 3, the constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida this November that would legalize the adult use of recreational cannabis.<\/p>\n

Morgan not only helped bankroll the constitutional amendments to get medical marijuana passed in Florida in 2016, but he also spent\u00a0\u201caround $6 million\u201d\u00a0in 2020 on a constitutional amendment\u00a0to raise Florida\u2019s minimum wage\u00a0from what was then $8.65 an hour to what will ultimately be $15 in 2026.<\/p>\n

But he hasn\u2019t been involved in the campaign to legalize cannabis this year. Until now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not my amendment,\u201d he said at a press conference held at the Morgan and Morgan law offices in downtown Orlando. \u201cI have given my advice, I\u2019ve given my help, but I have not given my money for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan said that he was recently contacted by officials with Smart & Safe Florida, the advocacy group that is working to get Amendment 3 passed this fall, if he was willing to be the \u201cvoice\u201d of the amendment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018Of course I would.\u2019\u201d he said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

While if it weren\u2019t for Morgan, it\u2019s unlikely there would have been another financial benefactor to help fund the campaigns for medical marijuana in both 2014 (when it failed with 57 percent of the vote) and 2016. The cannabis industry is now established in Florida, which is why Smart & Safe Florida has already raised about $55 million to date, and currently has more than $14 million cash-on-hand, according to the Florida Division of Elections\u2019s campaign finance data. Much of that initial money came from Trulieve, the state\u2019s largest marijuana company.<\/p>\n

Morgan said the reason that the campaigns for medical marijuana and raising the minimum wage that he\u2019s help fund have been successful is because he\u2019s been able to go outside of Tallahassee, which he called \u201ccorrupt\u201d during his news conference.<\/p>\n

\n

Florida, it’s time to vote #YesOn3<\/a>!! https:\/\/t.co\/eMUSe0lLnk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 John Morgan (@JohnMorganESQ) May 29, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cTallahassee does not work for us,\u201d he said. \u201dTallahassee works for a very small few: monopolies, cable companies, TV stations, grocery stores. They do not work for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Republican Party of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have formally come out against Amendment 3<\/a>.\u00a0Morgan was dismissive of DeSantis\u2019 comments about the proposal, specifically\u00a0his comment\u00a0that its passage will make the state \u201cstart to smell like marijuana<\/a> in our cities and counties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a fucking lie,\u201d Morgan replied. \u201cAnd the reason we know that it\u2019s a fucking lie is we don\u2019t smell it now. Have you ever walked around a marijuana store?\u2026 It\u2019s a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan, a Democrat who spent some time in 2017\u00a0considering a run for governor\u00a0the next year before ultimately opting not to, speculated on\u00a0X\u00a0back in January that he might consider running for governor as a political independent in 2026.<\/p>\n

Whether he does so or not, he\u2019s making sure that he believes that smoking cannabis is now a mainstream activity in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen do I use marijuana? Every fucking day,\u201d he said. \u201cI smoke a joint and I\u2019m still here, as Elton John would say, I\u2019m still standing. But guess what? I wake up every day clear as a bell.\u00a0\u00a0No cobwebs. So the time has come, like the time has come for a lot of the things in the past, to put these laws all behind us. If I was the governor of this state I would pardon every single person who\u2019s ever been arrested for marijuana. I\u2019d expunge all their records.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Americans are now reporting daily or near-daily use of marijuana<\/a> than those who drink alcohol at similar levels, according to an\u00a0analysis\u00a0published last week in the journal Addiction and authored by Carnegie Mellon University drug policy researcher Jonathan Caulkins.<\/p>\n

If approved,\u00a0Amendment 3\u00a0would legalize adults 21 and older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products up to three ounces. It would result in an increase of at least $195.6 million annually in state and local sales tax revenues, according to the Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference\u00a0from July 2023. It requires 60 percent support for passage.<\/p>\n

There are 24 states currently that have legalized recreational cannabis, but as\u00a0the Phoenix has previously reported, of the 15 states that approved legal weed via the ballot box, only three states\u2014Maryland, New Jersey and Arizona\u2014have been able to pass it by that large of a margin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Florida Phoenix.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Lawmakers Push To Let VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana And End THC Testing For Federal Job Applicants<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Florida Lawyer Who Funded Medical Marijuana Campaign Backs This Year\u2019s Recreational Legalization Ballot Measure<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Florida Lawyer Who Funded Medical Marijuana Campaign Backs This Year\u2019s Recreational Legalization Ballot Measure<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf I was the governor of this state I would pardon every single person who\u2019s ever been arrested for marijuana. I\u2019d expunge all their records.\u201d By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Orlando-based trial attorney and major Democratic fundraiser John Morgan, who spent more than\u00a0$8 million\u00a0of his own money to get medicalContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75777"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75778,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75777\/revisions\/75778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}