[spookypooky]

PROMOTING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

John Morgan's dad wouldn't eat. Radiation treatments for his esophageal cancer had burned out Ramon Morgan's throat and deadened his taste buds.

He twisted himself into a fetal position, hallucinating from the pain and drugs he was prescribed and tied to an oxygen tank to help him breathe.

Morgan's younger brother, Tim, who had been paralyzed from the neck down in high school, had a suggestion that had helped him: Smoke marijuana.

"The first time he did it, [the housekeeper] made him a pot roast dinner, and he ate the whole dinner and had a Miller Lite," Morgan recalled. "He said it was a miracle."

This is what Morgan, one of Florida's top political fundraisers, says is driving him to lead the fight to legalize medical marijuana in the state.

"Dad got to pass away not in distress but with dignity and with compassion," he told a crowd in Tallahassee earlier this year.

But his critics suggest Morgan is pushing a medical marijuana ballot initiative to draw liberal voters to the polls next year in an attempt to help Charlie Crist regain the governor's office.

Morgan, 57, shrugs when people attribute political motives to his campaign. Voters can decide what to believe.

"Cancer and debilitating diseases, they don't pick political parties," he said.

Patriarch of the Orlando-based Morgan & Morgan law firm, Morgan has long put his money to work in politics and causes. A prolific donor for President Obama, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and other Democrats, Morgan donated $2 million last year to a food bank in Central Florida.

He wants Florida to join the ranks of 20 other states where medicinal marijuana use is allowed. Through September, he had poured $400,000 into the campaign to place a medical marijuana constitutional amendment on the November 2014 ballot.

That figure could grow past $1 million, as the chairman for People United for Medical Marijuana tries to make a February deadline to gather the 683,149 required voter signatures. The group says it has more than 200,000 signatures gathered so far.

Last week, Crist, a lawyer in Morgan's firm, announced his bid for governor in 2014 as a Democrat. Morgan has made it a point since 2010 to keep Crist's face plastered on Morgan & Morgan billboards around the state and is expected to help finance his campaign.

Business groups supporting Gov. Rick Scott's re-election see the marijuana amendment as a mobilization effort for Crist.

"I'm not sure anyone believes him when he says he's doing this just to look out for people in pain or with specific types of diseases," said Dave Hart, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which is opposing the amendment along with the Florida Medical Association and state Sheriffs Association. "Certainly, we're concerned about Charlie Crist's employer and what's motivating him to put this on the ballot."

Crist has said he supports legalizing medical marijuana.

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[DannyDrama]

The best thing I ever did was get my gran to smoke a spliff in the morning. Bless her soul, her arthritis was so bad she couldn't make tea before that.

[DEWBZ]

cant wait! I have the worst acid reflux and medical mary would certainly do what most things couldn't!

[Kanda444]

good!! it's legal here and guess what....the world hasnt ended and the city hasnt fallen into chaos it's pretty amazing stuff and i wish everybody who could use it had access to it. it's not for everybody but for those that can benefit from it, it's a miracle

[Shakey]

I live in FL. so I am for it, but I still will not be able partake as I am a professional truck driver who has to take a piss test every 5 minutes.