Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2014 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Author: Frank Cerabino Page: B1 READY TO TAKE THE HIGH ROAD ON POT, GOV. SCOTT? Gov. Rick Scott is going to have to embrace pot smoking. That became clear this week when the Florida Supreme Court removed the last hurdle that could have kept a medicinal marijuana referendum off the November ballot. Scott's attorney general, Pam Bondi, had tried in vain to keep the issue off the ballot by claiming it would be too confusing for voters to consider the 74-word question. But the court, in a narrow 4-3 decision, approved the ballot wording, which is a huge boost for Charlie Crist, who is hoping to be the Democratic nominee running against Scott in November. It's more than a coincidence that the main force behind the medicinal marijuana issue is Crist's political patron, John Morgan, an Orlando-based personal injury lawyer who put up at least $ 2.7 million to launch the successful petition drive supporting the referendum. Morgan cites as his motivation the relief his cancer-stricken father and paralyzed brother found through medicinal marijuana. But Crist, who went to work for Morgan after losing his bid for U.S. Senate, is the guy who is getting the most relief from Morgan's ballot engineering. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 82 percent of surveyed Florida voters approve of medicinal marijuana. And Crist is eagerly volunteering to be their pie-eyed piper. "This is an issue of compassion, trusting doctors and trusting the people of Florida," Crist said. But medicinal marijuana is really about recreational marijuana. The Florida referendum allows doctors to prescribe marijuana as medicine for any condition "for which the physician believes that medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient." That makes medicinal marijuana a legal vehicle for young, healthy people to smoke pot without fear of prosecution. In other medical-marijuana states, most prescriptions aren't written for such age-related debilitating diseases as Parkinson's disease, glaucoma or cancer. They're written for headaches, dizziness, anxiety and as a sleep aid. In Arizona, the highest percentage of medicinal marijuana patients are between the ages of 18 and 30. This is bad news for Scott, whose recipe for success in November hinges on a low-turnout election that centers on the issue of job creation. He's against medicinal marijuana. But he's treading carefully on the topic, hoping not to make it a campaign issue. "I have a great deal of empathy for people battling difficult diseases, and I understand arguments in favor of this initiative," he said. "But, having seen the terrible effects of alcohol and drug abuse first-hand, I cannot endorse sending Florida down this path, and I would personally vote against it. "No matter my personal beliefs, however, a ballot initiative would be up to the voters to decide." Voting against it, but leaving it up to the voters? That's not going to be strong enough to win over the legions of apolitical, but suddenly motivated, marijuana voters who will show up to vote in November looking for an advocate in Tallahassee. Say goodbye to a low-turnout election focused on job creation. Unless. Unless Scott suddenly evolves on marijuana and goes even further than Crist on the subject. That's right. Scott needs to have a sudden epiphany, one that leads him to call for joining Colorado and Washington in making marijuana legal for recreational use in Florida. It's not even a big stretch. All he needs to do is embrace his libertarian roots and take his thinking a little more to the political right, where the legalization of marijuana has long been endorsed. It's a freedom issue. Getting the big, oppressive federal government off our backs. States' rights. Blah, blah, blah. Scott already knows the talking points from his opposition to the federal health care law. He can come to think of his position shift on marijuana as taking the high road. If not, the Florida Supreme Court may have just sealed his political doom in November. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt