In the State of Florida Catholic bishops are displaying concerns over the medicinal cannabis initiative—Amendment 2—which individuals will have the chance to vote on in the upcoming November election. This past Tuesday, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops delivered a statement on the initiative, highlighting some areas of high anxiety, including the fact that it places no THC cap on pot edibles and poses a danger to children.
“While there could be beneficial applications to the proposed use of marijuana, voters must carefully assess the risks and anticipated problems involved in amending the Florida Constitution to garner them,” the bishops wrote, explaining what they believe to be a “problematic framework” in the proposed regulations of Amendment 2.
John Morgan who is a lawyer from Orlando, who is a Catholic himself and a gentleman who has invested millions of dollars of his own capital into the campaign to legalize a comprehensive medical marijuana program in the state of Florida, says this is the first time he has caught wind of any opposition to the proposal coming from the bishops.
“I would tell the bishops we are here because the Florida Legislature refuses to act,” Morgan told the Tallahassee Democrat. “If we have to wait for the Legislature, this will never happen because they are in the pocket of Big Pharma.”
If voters pass Amendment 2 this November, which is expected to happen, the new law would allow patients suffering from a variety of health conditions to have access to full-strength marijuana and derivatives. Just a few short years ago, the State Legislature approved a weak low-THC bill for people with epilepsy and terminal illnesses, but the restrictive nature of the program has left hundreds of thousands of patients out in the cold.
It is for this reason that Morgan believes the bishops may have spoken out of school when offering their opposition to Amendment 2, a proposal that would have become law in 2014 had it not been for Florida’s uniquely bizarre 60 percent rule for ballot measures.
“I would ask the Bishops to look into people’s medicine cabinets. There is stuff in there that will kill you,” Morgan said. “I look at it this way: man made pills while God made marijuana. I’m going to stand with God every time.”
Currently, Florida’s bishops seem to be standing with a higher power more tangible in the eyes of the great American way—an old billionaire. It was recently discovered that casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has donated $1 million to Drug-Free Florida in hopes of stopping the initiative from being passed in 2016. Two years ago, Adelson gave $5 million to prevent the success of United for Care, with reports showing this year’s number could be closer to $7 million by the time the election is all said and done. Nevertheless, some of the latest polls show Amendment 2 will reign victorious in 2016. Somewhere around 80 percent of Florida’s voters are expected to support medical marijuana on the ballot this November.
MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | new@marijuanastocks.com
