Campus Reform: Proponents of a controversial medical marijuana amendment are rolling onto college campuses across the state of Florida in order to “get out the vote, or fuck it all.”
John Morgan
John Morgan, a Florida attorney who has invested at least $4 million into the United for Care campaign, kicked off a pro-medical marijuana bus tour this past Monday at the University of Central Florida. The bus tour seeks to convince students to vote yes on Amendment 2, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state.
The tour has made additional stops at University of South Florida, Florida Atlantic University, and Florida International University.
While the tour is named “For the Patients,” a private campaign memo obtained by Campus Reform showcases a much crasser theme. This schedule encourages those on the campaign to “[g]et out the vote, or fuck it all.”
Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, confirmed to Campus Reform that the document is authentic and legitimate but seemed surprised that it had been leaked.
“First of all I don’t know how that got out; did you get a copy of that?” asked Pollara. “That was some internal emails around the campaign and was a reference to a speech that John Morgan, our chairman, made to a group of young people at a bar late at night.”
In a video posted to YouTube, Morgan can be seen delivering the speech to a crowd of college students at a bar, peppering his words with profanity. During his speech, Morgan tells students to “fuck the sheriff” and offers to buy every pro-Amendment 2 crowd member a sex on the beach cocktail.
“I’m here for one reason tonight and one reason only. I’m trying to legalize medical marijuana,” Morgan said to a screaming crowd. “I’m not just here to do it. I’m here to fucking do it.”
“If you motherfuckers don’t get up and vote, fuck it all,” Morgan continued. “We can’t win, I’m telling you. If you don’t get out of your goddam bed and vote, we will lose this election.”
Dr. Jessica Spencer, spokeswoman for Vote No on 2, which posted YouTube video, believes the bus tour has less to do with patients and more to do with pandering to young, recreational-marijuana supportive students.
“Morgan’s tactics are sad. It’s sad for the people who actually need medicine. I always question which face Morgan is wearing. With one face, college students are chanting for the reefer, but on the other face Morgan is talking to the senior population about medicine,” Spencer told Campus Reform in an interview.
Spencer’s colleague explained that the amendment is controversial not for its subject matter, but for the wording of the amendment. “[O]nce you wade through all of the trickery surrounding this Amendment, you realize it’s simply pot for any purpose,” Sarah Bascom, spokeswoman for the Vote No on 2 campaign, explained in a press release obtained by Campus Reform.
Pollara dismisses Vote No on 2’s concerns. “The opposition to this campaign doesn’t have any good arguments against medical marijuana so they instead try to nit-pick the amendment and make their arguments against the text of the amendment rather than the concept of medical marijuana,” Pollara told Campus Reform.
If the amendment passes in November, Florida students will be able to buy marijuana from pot shops with a written recommendation from a physician. Amendment 2 needs 60 percent approval from Fla., voters in the upcoming midterm election to pass.
DCG
