Mitch Perry
United for Care, the group that in 2014 fell just short of succeeding with a medical marijuana constitutional amendment in Florida, said Wednesday it’s well on the way to getting a similar measure on the 2016 ballot.
Officials with the group said they will send 100,000 petitions to county supervisor of elections offices next week, many more than the 68,317 validated petitions required for a state Supreme Court review.
“This is a massive head start over the previous campaign, which started late. If we can sustain this pace, we should ensure our place on the ballot before the holidays,” Campaign Manager Ben Pollara said. “This early accomplishment comes as a direct result out of the dedicated volunteers we have and the generous donors large and small helping to fund our efforts.”
The supervisor of elections offices have 30 days to verify a petition is valid. After verification, the Supreme Court will then schedule a review, which Pollara predicts will happen by mid-August.
In November last year, Amendment 2, the constitutional amendment that would have allowed for the legal consumption of medical marijuana, received 57.6 percent of the vote, just short of the 60 percent needed for passage. The measure has been retitled this year as “Use of Medical Marijuana for Debilitating Conditions.”
Shortly before the measure lost in the fall, John Morgan, the prominent Orlando lawyer who bankrolled the amendment effort, vowed that if the vote is close he would try again to get it passed, saying, “If I lose a battle, I can damn sure still win the war.” The News Service of Florida’s Dara Kam reported in June that Morgan already has spent $150,000 on this year’s effort.
If the Supreme Court OKs the ballot language, United for Care would need to have 683,179 validated petitions by Feb. 1 to get on the 2016 ballot.
