Pubdate: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company Contact: http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37 Author: Evan Halper, Tribune Washington Bureau Page: 8 STATES SEEKING LEGAL POT FIND FIRED-UP FOES Legalization Outlook Goes From Solid to Shaky in Some States WASHINGTON- With pot sold openly to any adult who wants it in Colorado and Washington, marijuana advocates were hoping restrictions in other states would fall like dominoes this election season, opening the way for a push to change federal drug laws. They were not anticipating a multimillion-dollar wager against them by a casino mogul. Or a spike in voter anxiety amid bureaucratic stumbles in regulating the nascent recreational pot market. Now, legalization measures are teetering in Florida, Oregon and Alaska, states where supporters were confident of victory only a few months ago. "This is turning out to be a unique and very difficult election year," said Aaron Houston, a strategist for the Ghost Group, a marijuana-focused investment company. Ballot measures, he said, are under stress from the same midterm challenge afflicting all political forces on the left and their causes - an uninspired base of voters. But advocates acknowledge that some voters are also wary of how legalization has worked in Colorado and Washington. Legalization has not set off crime sprees in those states or a surge in stoned drivers crashing on roadways, as opponents had warned, but there have been lessthan-favorable headlines about marijuana-infused candies and tourists drug binges. And unlike previous campaigns, opponents of legalization this year have the money to make sure voters hear about those problems. The funds come from the unexpected emergence of a new and deep-pocketed nemesis for legal pot: Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire chief of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Adelson has spent $5 million to thwart what had been considered a routine medical marijuana proposal in Florida, surprising not just the measure's supporters but its delighted opponents too. The police organizations, drug treatment doctors and public health advocates who have banded together in the past to fight legalization efforts have never seen so much cash. "This is totally unprecedented," said Kevin Sabet, co-founder of Project SAM, a national anti-marijuana group. "There has never even been a TV ad from the 'no' side before." In Florida, the Adelsonbacked opposition has mounted a sophisticated onslaught, raising doubts among seniors, in particular, by comparing medical marijuana dispensaries to "pill mills" that wantonly distribute dangerous prescription drugs. The measure, Amendment 2, now appears unlikely to hit the 60 percent threshold it needs. "Florida is the beginning of what will be a broader effort nationwide," said Andy Abboud, Adelson's chief political strategist. He said Adelson and his wife, Miriam, a physician specializing in drug addiction, seek to "counterbalance the mainstreaming of marijuana in the country." For them, it is personal, Abboud said. Adelson's son from a previous marriage died of a drug overdose. As the Adelson money flowed, the campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Florida suffered another setback when a video of Amendment 2's chief sponsor, a wealthy trial lawyer named John Morgan, went viral. In it, Morgan, clearly inebriated, extolled the virtues of getting high. "He self-destructed in public view," said David Colburn, director of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. The center's latest poll shows support for the proposal has dipped to 48 percent. The outlook is brighter, but still dicey, for legalization advocates in Oregon, where voters will decide whether to follow Washington and allow the sale of pot for recreational use. Pot backers lost in 2012, and this year polls show support just above 50 percent. "It is closer than we would like," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the alliance. Oregon is a crucial state for legalization supporters, who hope to see marijuana available for sale to adults up and down the West Coast by 2016. GOP-dominated Alaska is also considered a prize. But polls, while notoriously unreliable in Alaska, generally show the measure falling short. Regardless of what happens next week, organizers believe they are positioned for big wins in 2016, a presidential election year, which typically brings out younger and more liberal voters, Nadelmann said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom