Legalization

Morgan and Morgan:  For the Legalization

By Olivia Sorrells

_________________________________________________

The topic of legalizing the use of medical marijuana has been on the public and government agenda for quite some time. John Morgan, a popular attorney from Florida is backing legalization in the state, with a substantial amount of money to put this issue on the 2014 mid-term election ballot.

Morgan is a prominent member of the central and south Florida community, as well as in the southern legal world. His firm, Morgan and Morgan, has been growing since 1988 in the family’s name for years, and has expanded its practice in the last decade to the southern region of the US. His slogan “For the People” is commonly heard on TV and radio in these areas.

According to an interview with WFTV, the reason for Morgan’s interest on this issue is his family. His father, diagnosed with cancer, used medical marijuana to help ease his pain as it progressed. “It's a no-brainer," said Morgan. "It curbed (my father's) nausea. It curbed his anxiety and helped his appetite." In another interview with the Orlando Weekly, Morgan said this was an act of humanitarianism and compassion for those with dying illnesses and medical issues rather than a push for free illicit drugs.

Morgan also said he is willing to contribute $3.5 million to help this issue with support from his friend Charlie Crist, former governor of Florida, and the United for Care organization in Orlando. Morgan is a chairman in this organization and four years ago he reestablished it financially and helped rename it from People United for Medical Marijuana.

This support will provide a substantial amount of money for advertisements, TV and radio campaign tools and other creative facets to approach the issue through a large public audience. With a little under 700,000 more signatures needed on the petition, it is becoming larger in the public and political eye for Florida. According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, “To get the amendment on the November 2014 ballot, the group will have to collect 683,149 signatures by Feb. 1, 2014.”

From the political standpoint, eighteen states, as well as Washington D.C., allow the use of medical marijuana.  Although, it has failed to pass in Florida many times, Morgan believes this change is inevitable and it is only time before it becomes legalized- and with this community, the time to start the petitions is now.

Morgan goes on to say in the Orlando Weekly interview that,  “medical marijuana is a pro-business issue that could bring tax revenues to a state that coddles industry," he says, "likewise, if it is regulated, there would be less concern about criminal abuses." According to Morgan, the real crime is, "delaying the inevitable."