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Politics

John Morgan Draws Fire as Florida Readies for Another Fight on Medical Marijuana

February 9, 2016 - 2:15pm

Attorney John Morgan is drawing fire as Florida gets ready for another fight over medical marijuana this election season. 

An anti-drug group jabbed Morgan for warning about the dangers of energy drinks while being the chief supporter of a proposed state constitution amendment expanding medical marijuana in the Sunshine State. Morgan and United Care backed Amendment 2 on medical marijuana back in 2014 and rounded up 58 percent of the vote, just under the 60 percent needed to pass. United for Care has brought back a proposed amendment on medical marijuana which will appear on the November ballot. 

“I find this completely ironic,” said Calvina Fay, the executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs, on Monday. “Although there is no doubt energy drinks have proven to be dangerous, there is also no doubt about the dangers of marijuana.” 

Fay pointed to studies about the harmful effects of marijuana before turning her fire back to Morgan. 

 “When looking at the evidence Morgan uses to build his case against energy drinks, you will find he utilizes adverse reports on this product from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” Fay continued. “Yet, we have heard Morgan discredit the FDA on several occasions when discussing marijuana.  He is also touting increased emergency room visits from energy drinks, but what about the increased emergency rooms visits and accidental poisoning that are occurring in Colorado due to legalized marijuana?

“Is he setting up a marijuana industry here in Florida to cash in on later with similar lawsuits?" Fay asked before twisting Morgan’s catchphrase to jab him. “Morgan isn’t ‘for the people.’ It looks like he’s for the money.”

Morgan fired back on Tuesday, noting he was not making a dime for his efforts on behalf of medical marijuana and insisting there were major striking differences between the harmful impacts of marijuana and energy drinks. 

"If you really care to learn about the medicinal benefits of marijuana just watch Sanjay Gupta's two specials on CNN,” Morgan said. “The pharmaceutical industry is engaged in the business of premeditated murder and they have spokespeople and goons who do their dirty work disguised as crusaders. They are not. They are hired guns. Who pays them? Nobody pays me. I can’t be bought. Opiate sales were $15 billion in America alone last year and treatment for the side effects were $55 billion. And by the way, people - mostly kids - die regularly from energy drink-induced cardiac arrest. Marijuana has never, in all of human civilization, killed a person."

Also on Tuesday, the Service Employees International Union of Florida (SEIU Florida) endorsed a proposed state constitution amendment to expand medical marijuana in the Sunshine State. 

SEIU Florida announced its support of the measure from United for Care. 

“We are honored to again receive the support of the SEIU,” said Ben Pollara, United for Care’s campaign manager. “The endorsement from the union representing the largest number of health-care workers in the state is particularly rewarding. We will proudly fight alongside SEIU Florida to secure the rights of doctors and their patients with debilitating conditions to make medical decisions without having to live like criminals.”

Martha Baker, a vice president of SEIU Florida and a nurse, praised the proposal on Tuesday. 

“The Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions ballot initiative is about compassion and quality of care for patients,” Baker said. “There are hundreds of thousands of very sick Floridians who will find relief due to this comprehensive proposal. There are 24 other states that have a medical marijuana law; United for Care is doing the right thing for Florida by bringing this issue to the voters. Moreover, the proposal puts medical decisions back in their proper place- between patient and doctor.

“Seriously ill patients should not have to expose themselves to prosecution for seeking to obtain the medicine they need to relieve their symptoms, and no physician should have to put their freedom or their license at risk for recommending the use of that medicine,” Baker added. 

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN

Comments

I know for a fact that Judge James Pierce smokes marijuana and has never been drug tested. Why can he do it daily, but yet those in need can't? Maybe it's time to bring him into the mix or have him tested? I feel that whats good for one should be good for all!

Calvina Fay is a worn-out dinosaur from the reefer madness era. Calvina, do everyone a favor and throw yourself in the ocean...don't come back. No one wants to listen to the warmed-over D.A.R.E. propaganda from the 1990's.

I'm the old smuggler in the movie "Square Grouper" who spent thirty years in prison for a non-violent first offense for marijuana. I am the founder & Director of The Silver Tour (www.thesilvertour.org) teaching seniors the benefits of medical marijuana. My latest book "Greed and Evil" (www.greedandevil.com) documents the people and finances behind the anti-cannabis movement. DFAF and i';s 20 front names orgs is a reincarnation of "Straight Inc" the N.Korean style rehab organization forced to fold after hundreds of teen suicides and resulting lawsuits engendered by kidnapping and torture of hundreds of children whose parents were fooled into paying 25-40 thousand dollars and signing commitments for kids not addicted to anything. The organization founded by Mel and Betty Sembler, was shut down by the government and reemerged as Drug Free America Foundation with Calvina Fey as a highly paid front person. She often claims to be a Professor from a S. American college. Calls to the University raised claims they never heard of her. "Professor" Fey goes to great lengths to hide the fact that her "successful businesses" were in fact drug testing companies in Texas. To the point, DFAF's primary funders (federal public record for all large nonprofits) are the three pharmaceutical companies that produce virtually all the legal opioids sold in the world today. Oxycodone, Oxycontin, Percocet etc.that, according to the AMA, have been the major cause of the worldwide heroine epidemic. Also supporting DFAF are the private prison corps that couldn't exist without non-violent drug offenders, the alcohol producers who have already experienced major income losses in places like Colorado where traffic fatalities are down by 50%. DFAF also has received millions in taxpayer funded grants and not surprisingly has "contributed" a major portion of the grant money to the politicians who arranged the grants. Lastly DFAF is deep in bed with the expensive and fraudulent rehab centers that charge 20-40 K to treat non-existent cannabis addition in persons forced into treatment by the courts (public record). One DFAF top staffer, Amy Rosenhaus, also works as a Fl court clerk who handles rehab referrals and was a well known barmaid in Tampa whose Face Book page extols the pleasures of booze filled vacations. Sincerely Robert Platshorn, Director, The Silver Tour, NORML of Fl, and producer of TV show "Should Grandma Smoke Pot". That said, I've spent time working for legalization in many states including Colorado. No one has ever been poisoned by cannabis in any form, emergency room visits are down (most are for alcohol poisoning), teen use down or level in all legal states, violent crime down significantly in Colorado and in the past year they received over 135 million in tax receipts (35 million went to schools). The cannabis legal states (23) are booming and siphoning a major portion of Florida's tourist dollars.

Robert you are correct. DFAF is a terrorist organization. They are much like Ronald Reagan's cocaine smuggling contras in that they will never be prosecuted for any crimes that they have committed. The 'justice' system is only interested in filling prison beds with nonviolent offenders.

And here all this time I thought he was just one more "jowl-filling" drunk, but I'm rapidly beginning to believe he's a stressed out "closet toker" with the support of the "Service Employees International Union"(SEIU) [the same people UNION people who propelled OBAMA into the oval office, and also the same people who 'change the sheets and pillowcases in Las Vegas hotel rooms', and the same organization 'seeded' with former ACORN members who poached Democrat votes from cemeteries...](strange bedfellows you are consorting with Mr Morgan...even for a pettifogger)

Looks like quite a conspiracy theory that you have put forth. Better tune your tinfoil hat for better reception.

Yet Fay won't admit energy drinks have killed people while pot hasn't. She is a religious hack and liar that makes money destroying people's lives arresting, jailing them for such a safe thing as pot.

Go figure. DFAF attacks John. Pathetic and predictable. They have to do everything they can to propagandize cannabis in order to defeat 2. Of course DFAF never mentions their anti-cannabis venture was paid for by a gambling tychoon. As if gambling is not addictive and destructive. They never mention they get the rest of their support from the "Drug Treatment" business. Now, enough on those blivets. John is doing Amendment 2 because he believes in Medical Cannabis, because of a family connection. What he has done and is doing is to help Patients. My thanx to him and all the other thousands who have supported Amendment 2. And there are thousands of us. YES ON 2! ForThePatients!

WELL SAID!!! . I couldn't of written it better . Keep up the good work .

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