Super-lawyer John Morgan is not about to give up on medical marijuana in the Sunshine State, despite the defeat on Election Day last month -- and based on what we know, that's a bad thing for those like me who support some kind of workable drug law reform that would make marijuana available to Floridians suffering or in pain.
Once leading handily in the polls, the campaign for Amendment 2 morphed into a grotesque vanity vehicle for Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan and his law firm.
Since Nov. 4, observers have reached a consensus that the only way for medical marijuana to happen in the state is for Morgan to completely separate himself from the issue -- and for his Sancho Panza, Ben Pollara, to do the same, at least to some extent.
"I mean, let's be honest. The last person that House and Senate leaders want to hear from on this issue is the guy who bankrolled Charlie Crist and financed many of their opponents. The only people who hate Morgan more than Republicans are the many Democrats he pledged money to and delivered nothing. Pollara is a fundraiser with scant campaign experience, a longtime Tallahassee insider said Monday.
Pollara, who Morgan enlisted to help pass the measure, has been held responsible for steering the Amendment 2 push from a bipartisan drive to a GOTV machine for Democrats. Some NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) volunteers complained about agreeing to work for Amendment 2 and instead being shunted off to canvass for the Charlie Crist campaign. (Pollara has denied this.)
While the generic question of medicinal marijuana polled at 88 percent positive, the actual ballot language for Amendment 2 polled as high as 72 percent after the measure made the ballot. Curiously, the campaign for an amendment that required a projected 56 percent of Republicans to get to 60 percent statewide made no effort to communicate bipartisan or Republican support for the measure.
Many Republicans who supported the effort -- for example, former state Sen. Paula Dockery and Wendy Bitner, wife to beloved former Republican Party of Florida chairman Dave Bitner -- were not featured in radio, print, or television advertisements trying to appeal to Republican voters, nor were they asked to do surrogate speaking.
The biggest push for Amendment 2 should have been in October -- breast cancer awareness month. Where were the advertisements that included mothers, daughters, aunts and grandmothers who were suffering and could have benefited from medical marijuana? This is a population that could benefit from medical marijuana. Why were none of these courageous faces helping get the message out?
Like many, I voted for Amendment 2, as flawed as it was. Those unhappy with the 60 percent threshold because of the recent failure of Amendment 2, which racked up 58 percent -- should vent their wrath on those who drafted a flawed amendment and the incompetent campaign put together to pass it.
After delaying the proposed amendment language, Florida personal injury attorney John Morgan was forced to pay top dollar for petition circulators, spending $4 million in an effort that should have cost $2 million, had it been started earlier, wasting more money that could have been used to advertise and get out the vote. Perhaps if that extra $2 million funded TV in key markets, 2 percent of voters could have been swayed.
Although Morgan told the Miami Herald, I can get the money. I have the money. I will be joined by people with money who will help, and Ive been very fortunate in life, and I can make it happen, his contribution to the fall campaign was minimal. He diverted substantial monies to the campaign of Charlie Crist, rather than putting his money where his mouth was. In other words, he didn't "make it happen."
The few campaign ads the Amendment 2 campaign did run were mostly in Orlando where Morgan has his personal injury law practice, and featured John Morgan and his brother -- rather than real patients who would actually benefit from medicinal marijuana. Morgan has even boasted to several intimates that the Amendment 2 ads featuring him and his brother have netted his law firm $5 million from new clients.
A drunken rant by Morgan, which went viral on YouTube, underlined that the marijuana in question ultimately would not be medicinal but recreational, further harming the campaign and bolstering concerns of those on the opposing No on 2 campaign.
Now, it's Pollara who has started to reach out to several legislators to find out how medical weed can get passed through the legislative process rather than a ballot initiative -- one of the lawmakers being a high-ranking Republican, the other a well-positioned Senate Democrat. Pollara started making contact over two weeks ago. There couldn't be a worse messenger.
In both instances, Pollara has made little headway with either elected official. Several sources in Tallahassee say it's blatantly obvious that he is being sent on Morgan's behalf. Lobbyist registrations and filings show that as of Monday, Dec. 1, Pollara is not registered to lobby with the state, which might also explain why elected officials are wary of taking his calls or setting meetings with him.
An employee at the lobbyist registration office in Tallahassee told me individuals are allowed to submit in person or by mail and that they can only begin lobbying once the office is in receipt of their paperwork.
"It is possible that someone like Mr. Pollara already could have mailed in his paperwork, but we do not currently have anything from him," according to the employee.
With mail only taking two days to get anywhere in the state of Florida if sent from within the state, it's interesting to find that Pollara's name is not listed in the online database of individuals currently permitted to lobby in the state of Florida. This means that Pollara is potentially operating as a lobbyist illegally.
"Sometimes we have trouble processing the registration fee or have issues with information provided on the paperwork. In that case, we send everything back to the individual applying and ask them to fix those matters before they begin lobbying."
If Pollara and Morgan intend to make a serious attempt at convincing any legislator to craft a bill that legalizes medical marijuana in the state, they should at the very least make sure they are doing so in a legal manner. Maybe it's a paperwork snafu, or maybe Pollara is counting on me and you to not care if he lobbies illegally.
Either way, it's hardly the way for proponents of medical marijuana to start exploring their options after a painful defeat at the ballot box, and John Morgan and Ben Pollara are hardly the men this state needs out in front pushing for medical marijuana for Floridians in need.
Jacob Engels is the founder of East Orlando Post and Seminole County Post. He can be reached at info@eastorlandopost.com
