medical-marijuana-advocates-meet-florida-ballot-goal

[phenethylo J]

A petition campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Florida has gathered enough signatures to put the issue on November's general election ballot.

Just after noon Friday, county elections officials had validated 710,508 signatures — enough to force a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow the growth, sale and possession of marijuana for medical uses.

The Florida Supreme Court could still reject the ballot language — and any vote along with it — but organizers expressed jubilation Friday that an expensive, last-minute push at least fulfilled the signature requirements for citizen-initiated amendments.
"I've spent $4 million, hired the best legal minds in the state of Florida, rallied my army of angels and collected more than 1.1 million signatures in five or six months,'' said Orlando lawyer John Morgan, who took over a small, grass roots petition campaign last year and gave it the clout to get on the ballot.

By law, constitutional amendment campaigns for 2014 require signatures from 683,149 registered voters. Morgan's group, United for Care, added more than 50,000 signatures on Friday to exceed that mark.

Morgan, who has paid about three-quarters of United for Care's expenses, said the petition drive cost twice as much as he had planned, largely because signatures lagged by December and the campaign had to gear up.

By paying professional collectors as much as $4 a signature, United for Care began dumping hundreds of thousands of petitions on beleaguered county elections officials. At the 1.1 million mark, the campaign shut down two weeks ago, then waited to see how many signatures actually came from registered voters.

The rejection rate ran about 30 percent — typical for large petition campaigns. Still, the Florida Division of Elections reported 50,000 new signature validations on Friday, putting the total over the top.

The campaign also met its other requirement: hitting signature targets in at least 14 of Florida's 27 congressional districts.

The Tampa Bay area proved to be fertile ground: 165,042 valid signatures came from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties, nearly one-fourth of the statewide total.

Save Our Society from Drugs, a St. Petersburg advocacy group, downplayed the significance of Friday's signature count.

"This really doesn't change anything,'' said executive director Calvina Fay. "We are still waiting to hear from the Supreme Court about the ballot language. We believe the language is misleading and are hopeful that the justices will rule soon.

"This also doesn't change the fact that the initiative is riddled with loopholes that would create de facto legalization in our state. We believe that if this gets to the ballot, Floridians will vote wisely and reject it."

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. Constitutional amendment proposals in Florida require 60 percent of the votes cast to pass, but polls show widespread support for medical marijuana.......

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/medical-marijuana-advocates-meet-florida-ballot-goal/2162592

 

[23536]

 

[poledriver]

Florida court weighs medical marijuana question

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The Florida Supreme Court is weighing whether to allow an initiative on the November ballot that would legalize medical marijuana in the state.
Attorney John Morgan of Orlando said he's spent some $2.1 million of his own money to collect the needed 680,000 signatures to get the measure put on November's ballot. He collected more than 731,000 signatures, as confirmed by local elections supervisors, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said.

"You know that country song 'Jesus, Take the Wheel'? That's all I can do with the [Florida] Supreme Court," Morgan said. "It's all in their hands."

The court will weigh challenges to the ballot initiative filed by the state attorney general, an association of Florida sheriffs and other groups.

Opponents contend the law, if passed, is too general and would permit doctors to prescribe pot for anyone who wants it. Morgan disagreed, saying text of the actual law voters could stand to approve limits it to serious diseases like cancer, glaucoma and hepatitis-C.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014...na-question/UPI-53851390683317/#ixzz2rRkTfRt0

 

[phenethylo J]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/court-approves-medical-marijuana-vote-in-florida/

we are one step closser

 

[weekend addiction]

2015 at the latest we will have legal weed across the country. And many other countries. Viva le revolution.

 

[poledriver]

Florida court OKs medical marijuana ballot

A FLORIDA measure that would allow the use of medical marijuana in the state has cleared its final hurdle and will be on the November ballot.

The state Supreme Court has approved the language for the proposed constitutional amendment.

The justices gave its approval on Monday by a 4-3 vote just three days after a petition drive reached the required number of signatures to place the measure on the ballot.

Republican Governor Rick Scott is opposed to medical marijuana. His Democratic Party challengers for the governorship, state Senator Nan Rich and former Governor Charlie Crist, both support it.

Meanwhile, pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it.

Colorado's Supreme Court has agreed to review a marijuana-related firing in a case that could have big implications for the state's pot smokers.

The court agreed on Monday to review the case of Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical-marijuana patient who was fired from his job at Dish Network in 2010 after failing a drug test.

The company didn't allege Coats was ever impaired on the job.

Dish Network argued medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by a law intended to protect cigarette smokers from being fired for legal behaviour off the clock.

A Colorado appeals court agreed last year.

A Supreme Court hearing date hasn't been scheduled.

http://www.news.com.au/world/breaki...marijuana-ballot/story-e6frfkui-1226811744324