Florida medical marijuana campaign says it has signatures for ballot

[secondvariety]

Source: Reuters

"A Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey late last year showed 82 percent public support for the amendment, if it gets on the ballot".

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/16/us-usa-florida-marijuana-idUSBREA0F1R920140116

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Hopefully the initiative isn't sabotaged by the legislature.

[shenmue]

1. I signed a petition the other day

It's an uphill fight, but I hope we win.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. Very impressive signature gathering drive, but there are still hurdles to overcome:

1. The signatures need to be verified as valid. They need 683,000 valid registered voter signatures; they have 1.1 million raw signatures. Even with a 30% invalidation rate, which would be high, they should actually qualify. But we'll see.

2. There is a challenge to the language of the initiative currently before the state Supreme Court. The high court will have to give its imprimatur before this can go before the voters. Whether it will do so remains to be seen.

[hueymahl]

4. The "high court", huh huh huh

Sorry, channeling a little Beavis and Buthead.

Hope this makes the ballot. It would be worth it just to watch the fundies implode with pious outrage.

[eggplant]

3. Now they just have to get Doritos to sponsor a GOTV rally ;-)

[HockeyMom]

5. Medical and Drug Industry

What no Oxycodone????? If you live in Florida, you will know what I mean by that.

[RainDog]

6. Will Marijuana Decide the Florida Governor's Race?

x-post from here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/11701586

http://www.drugpolicy.org/blog/will-marijuana-decide-florida-governors-race

Democratic and Republican insiders are saying that marijuana law reform may decide the Florida governor’s race, according to a recent Bloomberg report. As activists in Florida work on a ballot initiative that would make it the first state in the South to legalize medical marijuana, Democratic candidate Charlie Crist could benefit from supporting medical marijuana in his closely-anticipated match-up with incumbent GOP Governor Rick Scott.

Although Crist approved increased penalties for marijuana possession as governor, he – unlike Gov. Scott – supports the proposed medical marijuana ballot measure. Crist held the governor’s office from 2007-2011 as a Republican, before switching parties. No Democrat has won a governor’s race in Florida since 1994.

A medical marijuana victory at the ballot box in Florida would certainly be a breakthrough in the South, a breakthrough in one of the most populous states in the country, and a breakthrough in a bellwether state in American politics. But if the measure plays a deciding role in the outcome of the governor’s race, it could also finally put to bed the misperception that drug policy reform is a third rail in American politics.

Although marijuana reform is often compared with marriage equality as another emerging political issue on the cusp of mainstream acceptance, support for marijuana reform (especially medical marijuana) is actually much stronger. While support for full marijuana legalization has skyrocketed to 58 percent in recent years, support for medical marijuana has consistently remained way up in the 75-80 percent range since the 1990s.