cannabisnews.com: Dying Dad's Pain Inspired Push for Marijuana
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Dying Dad's Pain Inspired Push for Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on November 09, 2013 at 15:57:24 PT
By Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Source: Orlando Sentinel
Florida -- 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 was 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 Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and other Democrats, Morgan gave $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 across 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. And Morgan has admitted asking former Obama campaign strategists whether the amendment would likely have any effect on the 2014 race.Already, Republicans are lining up against the amendment.House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, plan to fight it when it goes before the Florida Supreme Court for review Dec. 5. Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi's office also will argue before the court that the question's ballot summary and title are misleading. They say the amendment could lead to pot stores cropping up in strip malls and neighborhoods.The amendment summary says it would authorize "the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician."The actual ballot language defines "debilitating medical condition" as diseases such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C or "other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."That could allow medical marijuana to be prescribed for anything, critics say. "People in Florida ought to know what the ballot issue is they'd be voting on," Gaetz said.Morgan says it won't have that effect. And he says he was pushing the amendment last year when he was encouraging Nelson to run for governor.His father, Ramon, initially resisted the suggestion to smoke marijuana, not surprising in a family that traces its roots back to Kentucky backwoods, where bourbon was king."He was the pre-eminent example of 'do as I say, not as I do' because he had a perpetual problem with alcohol and lost a lot of jobs because of it. But he was always anti-drug," he says.Ramon Morgan died in 1993 at age 66. A decade later, Tim Morgan, who had been paralyzed while working as a lifeguard at Walt Disney World, got head and neck cancer and again turned to marijuana to fight extreme nausea. In remission for five years, Tim works for John Morgan's law firm and has become a living image for the ballot push.Even so, Gaetz was blunt about what he sees as the Crist connection to the campaign. "It's probably entirely natural that if you're a few tokes over the line you'd think Charlie Crist would be a good governor," Gaetz said.Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)Author: Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau ChiefPublished: November 9, 2013Copyright: 2013 Orlando SentinelContact: insight orlandosentinel.comWebsite: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/IJ3kVmRaCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by museman on November 11, 2013 at 21:58:48 PT
Hope
Yes,But the metaphor is not the moral. The donkey is whoever follows the carrot. The metaphor is about deception. And the deceivers are assuredly not as benign as the driver who tricked the donkey.I have nothing to say that can be construed as supportive for any facet of the hi-jacked unconstitutional government -the one that claims to represent the people's interests but assuredly do not, and never have. I swore my oath. I did my duty. I Voted. And at this point i can stand up and say it was all a friggin lie. Amazing how the arrangement of words can have a presupposed response.No anger, that got cold a long time ago. Just fact, knowing how I and everyone else who believed were betrayed, many slaughtered -and not just because of cannabis prohibition; there have been plenty of 'wars.' And more children and families have suffered under other wars during the 70 years of cannabis prohibition than that particuar travesty and excuse for more abuse of the people. But the abuses all come from the same source!I personally think that is a necessary understanding.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #9 posted by Hope on November 11, 2013 at 21:08:39 PT
rabbits and carrots and sticks
There's a donkey involved in that tale somewhere.At least they are looking at using the stick for something besides beating something.I think that's the moral of the original story. That donkey that won't go where you want him to go... even if you beat him with a stick... will follow the carrot home where he will finally "Catch" the carrot. It's important he actually always eventually catch the carrot or some of it. Or he'll go all stubborn again. It's a smarter, gentler way of dealing with a stubborn ass... or an stubborn ass.I just realized. It worked somewhat, and inadvertently, but almost exactly the same, for some of the prohibs. There was money on a stick waved in front of them.Tsk. Tsk. They would have gotten the tax money anyway... if they'd just done it, end this dangerous and destructive prohibition, because it was the right thing to do. Oh well.One way. Or the other.
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Comment #8 posted by museman on November 11, 2013 at 16:30:42 PT
#4
Well there must be a lot of rabbits, cuz carrots is all the politicians got to offer, and they all seem to be on sticks just out of our reach...
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Comment #7 posted by ekim on November 10, 2013 at 13:18:54 PT
thanks go out to Howard and Neil for hard work
http://www.drugwarrant.com/2013/11/naacp-calls-for-feds-to-respect-states-marijuana-laws/
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Comment #6 posted by John Tyler on November 10, 2013 at 09:13:11 PT
miracle plant changes minds
Why is it that prohibitionist and / or Republicans don’t understand cannabis until they themselves have had some health crisis, or some other life threatening experience where cannabis is not only the best treatment, but the only treatment? I am glad they are realizing the truth. It took them way too long though.Cannabis is indeed a miracle plant. It is good for the body and the mind and many other uses. See how it changed this Republican’s mind.Cannabis legalization is coming. It is all over the news. It is going to be the next big thing. It will mean new employment opportunities and tax revenues. Investors can’t wait to invest according to CNN Money news. The wise politician will support cannabis legalization because it means economic development and money, lots and lots of money. Don’t be left behind.
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on November 10, 2013 at 06:25:32 PT
It takes a Republican.
"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 was 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." or when a child has near constant epileptic seizures and cannabis quickly helps end them...There are countless similar situations documented in life.It takes a certain kind of person to deny those types of realities. It takes a Republican.
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on November 09, 2013 at 18:00:33 PT
If I were a politician...
...and the majority of voters were rabbits, I'd promise carrots for everybody!
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on November 09, 2013 at 17:20:33 PT
Commerical
They remind me of a commercial from a long time ago.Just ask Mikey he hates everything.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 09, 2013 at 17:18:49 PT
The GCW
I wish I knew why they are so hard on marijuana issues except they know how mentally liberating cannabis is and that means people will use thinking and logic more. Cannabis consumers are usually very reasonable and fair minded when they think things through. Anger and fear are tempered. Most Republicans seem angry.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on November 09, 2013 at 16:38:59 PT
Republicans, please stop picking on sick people.
"But his critics suggest Morgan is pushing a medical-marijuana ballot initiative to draw liberal voters to the polls next year"Allowing sick citizens to use cannabis is rational, compassionate, popular, backed by science, history and doctors... it's the Christian thing to do.***If Republicans want to deny what is rational, compassionate, popular, backed by science, history and doctors and it aligns with the wishes of the Christ Jesus, then they shouldn't criticize citizens who are attracted to the Democrats due to this issue.-0-"Cancer and debilitating diseases, they don't pick political parties,"The Republican political party should stop focusing any energy toward keeping sick citizens from using what God says is good on the 1st page of the Bible.Or are Republicans exempt from cancer etc?Please.
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