Last year’s elections were not in favor of pharmaceutical or anti-drug companies that have a significant hold in the state of Florida. Now there’s an anti-drug company working on the medical marijuana laws five months after Amendment 2 was voted into the Florida Constitution. The laws will focus on the expanded use of cannabis, but it could get tricky with the help from an opposition group.
Drug-Free America Foundation
Drug-Free America Foundation one of the several anti-drug groups that gave millions in political funds to Drug-Free Florida to fight Amendment 2 from being voted into law.
Sadly, the group was not able to achieve victory, and the law was voted into after earning nearly 71 percent of the vote on the electoral ballot last year.
Now Drug-Free America Foundation can have a say in what is put into the law and how the plant should be used. Executive Director, Calvina Fay spoke to Florida’s Congress on behalf of the foundation and how grateful they are for legislators listening to their concerns to the House sponsor and that they are thankful for the legislators for implementing many of their ideas into the bill. The lobbying arm of Drug-Free America Foundation, the Save Our Society from Drugs sent in a list of suggestions for legislators about curbing Marijuana abuse and how to prevent it.
43 of their suggestions made it into House Bill 1397 (HB 1397) thanks to the push from majority leader Ray Rodrigues.
HB 1397
Upon looking at the suggestions being made into the bill, it seems as if there’s more of a crackdown on marijuana than a leg up on the drugs. These suggestions and implemented ideas will make it much harder for people to obtain marijuana, but make it easier for people to get painkillers and other pill medications still.
Op-ed writer Ben Pollara wrote to the Tampa Bay Times citing that the group should not have offered ideas into the bill if they were against the amendment in the first place. Pollara offered a suggestion to the House based on voter opinion of the drug, but his idea never made it into the bill.
“If your whole goal is to say ‘no’ to something why should we take your advice in implementing it?” Pollara said to Tampa Bay Times.
Ben Pollara is the executive director of Florida for Care and was a writer of Amendment 2.
Majority leader Ray Rodrigues says there is no single group affected the language of HB 1397 and looked into considerations from groups with a wide assortment of views that could help with language and suggestions for the bill to be sent out for approval. Records from the office of Ray Rodrigues shows he was with 70 cannabis lobbyists and activists groups since last year.
