Voters in 2020 may have at least two constitutional amendments to decide on, both of which would be put on the ballot through the expensive process of gathering petitions. And both of those amendments — a $15 minimum wage and the legalization of recreational marijuana — would be largely bankrolled by one man, Central Florida attorney John Morgan of the Morgan and Morgan law firm.
Morgan announced today that he’ll try to get a recreational marijuana amendment on the ballot in the next presidential election year.
It’s a bit of an evolution for Morgan. In November 2016, right after the medical marijuana passed, he called a press conference and said in part that he believed full legalization would one day come to Florida but that “Recreational marijuana is not my fight.”
By October 2017, he tweeted:
John Morgan @JohnMorganESQ
I believe the full legalization of #marijuana should happen today.
It would improve the economy, create jobs, & increase tax revenue.
It’s not hard to see why Morgan has changed his mind. Since the 2016 medical marijuana amendment passed, he has fought the state over a ban on smoking the substance and criticized the slow pace at which the Florida Department of Health has rolled out growing licenses and patient ID cards.
Morgan said he believes a recreational marijuana amendment “would pass overwhelmingly.”
We want to know what you think. Would you support recreational marijuana in Florida? Do you think medical marijuana has been made available in a reasonable time frame? Would the financial windfall of taxes and fees from legal pot make up for any downside? And what downside do you see, if any?
Email Dsweeney@SunSentinel.com or tweet @Daniel_Sweeney. Your response could be used in a future story.
