John Morgan’s potty mouth (Florida)

Tampa Tribune ^ | 09/05/14 | Tribune Staff

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Attorney John Morgan’s exuberantly profane comments to Amendment 2 supporters in a Lakeland bar puts a lie to the claim that the measure is aimed solely at legalizing medical marijuana.

Morgan showed up at Lakeland’s Boots ’n’ Buckles Saloon after a debate with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd about Amendment 2 last week.

He continually used four-letter words to rouse the frantic pro-amendment crowd. And although he does say he is speaking on behalf of medical marijuana, Morgan, holding a drink, also jokes, “I didn’t smoke a piece of grass all the way here. But I’ll tell you this, once I get outside the borders of Polk County, I might smoke a lot of grass.”

The embarrassing performance was captured on a cellphone. After it began circulating, Morgan dismissed his performance as simply playing to the young crowd, which he also continually urged to vote.

In a released statement, he said, “While this is not language I would use in church, my message is the same one. Very sick people need our help.”

Maybe, but the raucous crowd that Morgan incites shows not the slightest interest in sick people.

They howl at Morgan’s profanity, and people can be heard screaming “Smoke weed,” “Morgan and Morgan, for the reefer” and “Where’s the cocaine?”

These are the people Morgan is urging to “get out of bed” and vote for the first time. They are not concerned with easing anyone’s pain. They are concerned with good times, and legalizing medical marijuana is a key step toward making the potent drug completely legal.

If Amendment 2 proponents genuinely were concerned with aiding the suffering, the constitutional initiative would not be so broadly worded that physicians could approve its use for virtually any condition.

It would not allow the possibility of marijuana being dispensed for smoking, and other uses where getting high, not pain relief, is the likely priority.

And it would not ignore the fact there are legal pain-killing alternatives, including Marinol, which includes the primary active ingredients in marijuana.

And if Morgan was concerned about his youthful audience’s welfare, he might have mentioned that a recent study found that once-a-week use of pot among teens and young adults led to poor attention and memory. Other studies also have found regular marijuana causes cognitive decline.

Morgan has contributed nearly $4 million of his own money to the medical marijuana cause and has seen his father die from cancer and his brother endure paralysis. We don’t doubt he is motivated by his family tragedies.

But this broadly written amendment would do far more than simply offer comfort to the suffering.

Morgan’s crude encouragement to the wild, party-hearty crowd at the Lakeland bar probably offers better insight into the amendment’s ultimate intent.

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And it would not ignore the fact there are legal pain-killing alternatives, including Marinol, which includes the primary active ingredients in marijuana.

[rey]

I have people tell me all the time that marijuana is the only thing that relieves their pain. I ask if they would be comfortable with that while a broken femur was set or perhaps while they were being stitched.

There is only one self indulgent reason they want it legalized.

[Ken H]

Gravis Marketing has consistently shown the least support among FL voters for the measure. It is now at 64%, up from 57% in January 2014.

1/31/2014 => 57% Y; 31% N; 11% U

4/25/2014 => 60% Y; 32% N; 8% U

8/24/2014 => 64% Y; 26% N; 10% U

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Sources

http://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Right_to_Medical_Marijuana_Initiative,_Amendment_2_(2014)

http://gravismarketing.com/polling-and-market-research/scott-crist-tied-hillary-clinton-ahead-marijuana-past-60/

[ConservingFreedom]

If Amendment 2 proponents genuinely were concerned with aiding the suffering, the constitutional initiative would not be so broadly worded that physicians could approve its use for virtually any condition.

On the whole, I'd rather have doctors making medical decisions than government.

[WayneS]

Amendment 2?

...the right of the people to keep and burn weed shall not be infringed...?

[Ken H]

Amendment 2?

Forget it, he's rolling.

[JCG]

I have people tell me all the time that marijuana is the only thing that relieves their pain. I ask if they would be comfortable with that while a broken femur was set or perhaps while they were being stitched.

Kind of an apples/oranges comparison doncha think? I mean there's pain and then there is pain. If I prick your finger for a blood sample that is one kind of pain, if I pull the fingernail out from that finger that's a whole 'nother pain. Same finger.

Here's the deal: for things like chronic back pain, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and the like, I'm told medical cannabis is a great pain reliever. It is superior to the opiods that the medical folk are so fond of. It isn't addictive and you can't kill yourself from an overdose.

(I haven't tried MMJ yet but as soon as I can afford a trip to Colorado I intend to do so. My RA might appreciate it.)

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[rey]

I don’t doubt it can relieve pain. It comes in pill form. But I got people telling me the only thing that works for their broken back or cancer or whatever is dope. There is no way it is a better pain reliever that other products like Vicoden. No one wants the active ingredient. Pharmaceutical companies that make such medication find them to be losers. These people just want to get stoned.

[Neidermeyer]

No surprises here ,, John Morgan is a notorious drunkard ,, he is also a good fundraising friend of Obama and backer of Charlie Crist... John will get his medical MJ passed this year but Crist has no credibility with any voter group.

[JCG]

There is no way it is a better pain reliever that other products like Vicoden.

Do you know this from experience or just from what you've heard?

No one wants the active ingredient. Pharmaceutical companies that make such medication find them to be losers.

I don't follow. What active ingredient? What kind of medication are you talking about?

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[Kickass Conservative]

I remember the run up for Legalizing Medical Marijuana in CA. The Commercials all showed Bald, Frail People with Cancer. They pulled out all the stops.

Now, anyone and everyone can get a Medical Marijuana Card. All it takes is a $100 visit to Dr. Feelgood and a whiny story about having Anxiety, Insomnia or Stress.

I think that Medical Marijuana is a useful drug treatment for certain situations, but it really irritates me how it has been abused.

I say this seeing people going through Chemotherapy who are helped by its use. I am currently in the middle of Chemotherapy myself and so far I have been very fortunate in not having severe nausea. Others that I see in treatment aren’t as lucky.

That doesn’t change the fact that it was backdoor Legalization, nothing more, nothing less. People afflicted with Cancer and other debilitating Diseases were used as Props to get the Law passed IMHO.

[JCG]

That doesn’t change the fact that it was backdoor Legalization, nothing more, nothing less. People afflicted with Cancer and other debilitating Diseases were used as Props to get the Law passed IMHO.

It's a long way from legalization but what would be wrong with that anyway? If we can tolerate the ravages of alcohol which kills more than 15,000 Americans a year, we should be able to handle MJ which kills no one. (Accidental deaths not included.)

We just need to handle legal MJ as we do alcohol. Tax it, no sale to minors, moonshiners go to jail.

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