Orlando attorney John Morgan tells WOKV News he has 650,000 signatures needed to get medical marijuana on the Florida ballot next year, and he’s aiming for a million.
Even though the state only requires 683,149 by the Feb. 1 deadline, Morgan says he’s collecting more for “the ones that fall off,” such as non-Florida residents who sign up.
“I would say I’m cautiously optimistic,” he says.
The Florida Supreme Court has yet to rule on the constitutionality of the ballot summary language. They have until April 1 to rule, and if they strike it down, it means back-to-start for People United for Medical Marijuana.
“I feel good about the legalities,” Morgan says. “I feel good about our chances of winning.”
He says the court had issue with the phrase “debilitating illness” in the summary, saying that doctors could use that phrase and prescribe marijuana to anybody.
“If doctors want to prescribe anything now I guess they could,” Morgan says. “We have to trust our doctors. If we get to the point where we don’t trust our doctors to understand what the word ‘debilitating’ means, then God help us all.”
Some political analysts have said Florida GOP leaders are lining up against the amendment because they don't want it on the same ballot as the Governor's race. Analysts have said the GOP think it will bring young, liberal voters to the polls who will mostly vote Democrat and hurt Governor Scott's re-election campaign.
“I think that they’ve overthought it and that’s not right,” Morgan says. “The elderly population of Florida are the ones who are calling me sayin ‘please do it’.”
Morgan says the real beneficiaries of medical marijuana in Florida are going to be people like his father who needed relief from his cancer pain, not “the college student who’s stressed out.”
“I believe that there will be a lot of people who will vote for Governor Scott and vote to legalize medical marijuana,” he says.