John Morgan says it’s a patient’s right to be able to smoke marijuana.
So fervent is Morgan in his belief that he is prepared to sue Florida over the state’s newest medical marijuana regulations, which prohibit smoking the drug outright.
On Wednesday Gov. Rick Scott said he would “absolutely” sign the Florida legislature’s proposal to regulate the state’s booming medical marijuana industry, which is only set to expand as time goes on.
"They worked hard to get a bill that made sense,” Scott said. “I think, in anything like this, there's a process on how to make things better.”
It didn’t take long for Morgan to respond, saying he was ready to head to court as soon as Scott’s signature hit the bill.
“Great Scott!! I'll be filing my lawsuit for smoke as soon as it goes into law,” he wrote on Twitter.
The current proposal to regulate medical marijuana allows patients to ingest the drug via edibles, oils or vaping, but prohibits smoking the drug -- an issue that has pro-medical marijuana advocates up in arms.
Morgan says state lawmakers didn’t quite understand the intent of Amendment 2, which he largely crafted with other pro-medical marijuana advocates.
“I don’t know what their problem is with smoke but that’s clearly the intent of the amendment,” Morgan said. “I will get to sue them to allow medical marijuana to be smoked.”
Morgan told Sunshine State News Amendment 2 restricts patients from smoking the drug in public, but said the underlying implication is that medical marijuana can be smoked in the privacy of patients’ homes.
The firebrand attorney is confident he will emerge victorious.
“The reason I will win is because the amendment says clearly that medical marijuana may not be smoked in public, but if it may not be smoked in public it may be smoked in private,” he said.
The Orlando attorney said he believed lawmakers feared marijuana, with the ban on smoking being just another way to voice their disapproval over the alternative medication.
“They’re making it a health issue like someone in chemotherapy is taking a few tokes,” Morgan said. “It’s a bunch of people who don't understand what they don't understand. When you're dying the last thing you care about is the smoke from marijuana."
Other medical marijuana advocates agreed.
“I think it’s silly that the legislature insists on banning the single most common method of consumption of marijuana,” Florida For Care executive director Ben Pollara told SSN. “It’s also contrary to the definition of ‘marijuana’ and ‘medical use’ in the Florida Constitution.
Morgan told SSN he had already started preparing the lawsuit, enlisting former Florida politician and fellow attorney Jon Mills to help him snag a win for smokeable marijuana.
Morgan said he plans on filing the lawsuit when Scott signs it into law. The governor officially received the bill Monday and has two weeks to sign the bill.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
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