“If I were king of Florida,” Orlando legal mogul and potential gubernatorial candidate John Morgan said at a news conference, “I would walk through the prisons and release everyone in there for possession alone.”
Last year, Morgan was the steed-mounted champion for Florida’s “Amendment 2” ballot initiative, which sought to make medical marijuana legal in Florida. The amendment passed with an overwhelming 70 percent of the vote in favor.
This was the same Republican-leaning electorate which chose Donald Trump for the presidency and re-elected Senator Marco Rubio.
When Morgan began his crusade in 2014, political elites within his own Democratic party told him it was impossible. Marijuana would never be legalized in Florida the way it was in Colorado, they told him. But unlike his fellow Democrats, Morgan had a willingness to put money where his mouth was. $9 million to be exact, which he pumped into his campaign to pass Amendment 2.
In a stunning upset, the rambunctious personality sometimes referred to as “Florida’s Trump” succeeded in his efforts.
