Twenty states legally allow the use of medicinal marijuana, and Florida could be next in line after a statewide petition reached its 1 million signature goal.
United for Care, the organization sponsoring the initiative in Florida, announced Wednesday night about 1.1 million people had signed the petition, enough signatures to put medical marijuana legislation on the ballot.
Morgan and Morgan law firm partner and United for Care Chairman John Morgan said the next step in the campaign is to verify that at least 675,000 signatures are valid, meaning that signers are registered to vote, live in Florida and only signed once.
Morgan said they also must wait to hear the official ruling from the Supreme Court to ensure the language is constitutional.
The organization hired Jon Mills, a constitutional scholar and UF Levin College of Law professor, to look over the bill’s language.
“We hope that he’s done his job, and we think that he has,” Morgan said.
Some students who signed the petition, like Brandon Harvey, are excited to see the amount of signatures United for Care has received.
The 20-year-old UF neuroscience sophomore wrote in an email that he was impressed with the organization’s efforts in Gainesville and across the state.
If the signatures are all verified, Harvey said, he doesn’t “see any practical way we won’t have medical cannabis come November.”
Other students recognized that even though the organization had reached its goal, it doesn’t detract from the controversial nature of the issue among residents.
Matt Pesek, vice chair for UF College Republicans, said that while he would be OK with the legislation appearing on the ballot, it is an issue that needs to be further researched.
“It’s a fairly divided topic,” Pesek said, a 21-year-old religion graduate student. “It’s an emerging field of research, and if it’s put on the ballot, it will open up a lot of discussion.”
The club released a statement Thursday about the legislation.
“First of all, the current proposal to allow medical marijuana in the state of Florida does not override the federal prohibition on the leafy substance, thus putting Floridians at risk of federal indictment regardless of state law,” it read. “Furthermore, and more importantly, the current bill is worded in such a way that doctors could prescribe marijuana for nearly any reason.”
As for the next step in the campaign, Morgan said that if enough signatures are verified and the Supreme Court finds the language constitutional, United for Care will switch into full campaign mode.
“I want every student at UF to register to vote and then start educating the public,” he said.
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/17/2014 under the headline "High interest may plant medical marijuana on ballot"
