Pubdate: Fri, 31 Oct 2014
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2014 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: Connie Sturgeon
Page: A6

DON'T BELIEVE NEGATIVE ADS

Re: Amendment 2

I hope anyone planning to vote no on Amendment 2 does not make his or
her choice based on the ads funded by a Las Vegas billionaire casino
owner. Do not be blinded by the millions thrown into this proposition;
read the facts and decide for yourself.

If you choose to be afraid of a drug, try alcohol, Oxycontin or
heroin, whose use has been growing among youths at an alarming rate.
If you choose to vote no, I hope and pray a day does not come when you
or a loved one has that choice taken from them.

Six months ago, I lost my brother to cancer. I saw the man I loved and
revered writhe in pain and struggle for some semblance of a normal
life. He was a brilliant man, a motocross champion, a business owner,
a father and grandfather, reduced at the end to being unable to speak
or be touched because of the pain.

The only relief he got was through pot. He refused to take Oxycontin
pills and morphine as long as he could. He said he might as well be
dead as be a drooling zombie. So he became a criminal, and my family
became accomplices, transporting the 'devil's weed' to his bedside.
These were times he was lucid, laughing and thriving, not just surviving.

Please look beyond the negative advertising when making your choice.

Connie Sturgeon, St. Petersburg
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MAP posted-by: Matt