File this as a reference to the history of reforming cannabis laws, especially in the state of Florida.
For several years, journalist Mike Pollick was one of the few newsmen in the country who maintained an active beat covering cannabis and hemp issues, for the Sarasota Herald Tribune. This article from 2015 was one of several pieces that he developed out of conversation with me, when I was a professor of biology at Eckerd College. I really enjoyed our chats.
For context, in 2014 the voters of Florida barely failed to pass a state constitutional amendment to legalize the medical use of cannabis. It failed with 56% of the vote, because the state legislature requires a 60% supermajority to change the state constitution, and that (a constitutional amendment) is the only kind of voter-led ballot initiative allowed in the state of Florida. It also failed because the legislature had preemptively passed a CBD-only legalization bill, thereby launching the medical marijuana industry in Florida while still demonizing THC.
Because of those efforts, and short but cogent little articles like the one linked below… wherein the public could finally read sane dialogue about cannabis in their hometown newspapers, after decades of prohibition… the “Amendment 2” ballot initiative for medical marijuana was passed in 2016 by a staggering 72% of the popular vote.
When people learn the truth about cannabis — that it is a natural, remarkably safe herbal medicine that literally co-evolved with our human ancestors — the vast majority are in favor of safe and legal access.
