Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jul 2015
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2015 The Tribune Co.
Contact: http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-letters/submit/
Website: http://tbo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446
Author: Mike Salinero, Tribune Staff
Page: Metro, page 1

GIANT JOINT RILES SOME

Pro-Pot Group's Float Rolled Through Temple Terrace

Nothing says Fourth of July like an orange stretch limo pulling a 
giant marijuana cigarette down Main Street.

Local members of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws 
used a float in Temple Terrace's Independence Day parade Saturday to 
promote their views. The reaction from anti-drug groups was anything 
but mellow.

The Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance and Drug Free America 
Foundation sent out a dual news release Monday afternoon criticizing 
the float and questioning why parade organizers allowed it.

Ellen Snelling, chairman of the Anti-Drug Alliance, lives in Temple 
Terrace and often participates in the parade. She said the float and 
the NORML organizers who accompanied it and handed out fliers were 
out of place at a family-friendly event.

'When you promote drug legalization on a float in a parade, it can 
give a really bad message to children,' Snelling said. 'I believe in 
free speech, but I think there is a time and a place to conduct 
speech referring to legalization of drugs, and a children's parade is 
not that place.' Snelling also questioned whether the members of the 
central Florida NORML chapter used deception to get the float in the 
parade. She said when she first saw the float it was an unadorned 
boat, but when she came back 20 minutes later, the wagon was 
festooned with NORML banners. Atop the green-and-white float was a 
fake 10-foot marijuana cigarette, painted red on the tip as though burning.

Christopher Cano, director of the pro-pot group's local chapter, 
denied there was any attempt to conceal the identity of the float's 
sponsors or their message that marijuana should be legalized for medical use.

Cano said members filled out the parade entry forms and paid the $50 
fee. During the parade, they handed out 2,000 fliers, and only 10 or 
so people refused them, he said.

'If the (Temple Terrace) Chamber of Commerce didn't want us in the 
parade, they could have said that,' Cano said. 'The float in front of 
us was passing out Confederate flags. They should be more offended 
about them than us.' Lee Bell, CEO of the Greater Temple Terrace 
Chamber of Commerce, said he doesn't remember NORML being on the list 
of parade entrants. But even if he had known the group had signed up, 
Bell said, he wouldn't have protested. Temple Terrace prides itself 
on being progressive and embracing diversity, and that includes giant 
marijuana cigarettes and rebel flags, he said.

'It's not our place to censor free speech,' Bell said. 'As long as 
it's legal and as long as they passed inspection by the Temple 
Terrace Fire Department, I can't censor it.' Bell pointed out that 
medical marijuana narrowly missed being legalized in Florida in 
November. Nearly 58 percent of voters said yes to legalization by 
voting for Amendment 2, just short of the 60 percent majority needed 
to amend the state constitution.

That means supporters, including wealthy trial lawyer John Morgan, 
likely will succeed in putting the issue back on the ballot in 2016.

'It's a hot topic and it will continue to be,' Bell said. 'And the 
more discussion people have about it, the better.' Among those 
unsettled by the float's appearance was the man who supplied the 
26-foot bright orange limousine that pulled the boat. Garyn Angel 
said he leases the vehicle as a marketing tool for his company, 
Magical Butter, which makes machines to extract the intoxicating oil 
from pot so customers can mix up their own magic brownies.

Though a proponent of legalizing marijuana, Angel said he wasn't 
comfortable with how the float was decked out, especially for a 
Fourth of July parade.

'We got asked to do this parade not knowing it was a giant cannabis 
reefer float,' Angel said, adding that he doesn't 'have a problem 
with cannabis in any way, shape or form.' 'But we probably wouldn't 
have pulled it in a parade if we would have known exactly what it 
was,' he said. 'It's not politically accepted at this point. Our 
brand has been very careful about presenting it in anything but a fun 
and helpful way.'
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom