What’s Next for FLCAN

Even though lawmakers did not take up the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act in 2013, Florida CAN isn’t daunted or distracted from our mission. We are more determined than ever to see safe, therapeutic access to cannabis for people in Florida.

You can check out our reports about the legislative session but in short it was exciting, eye opening and encouraging. One southwest Florida lawmaker started our meeting by saying he KNEW cannabis was Safer than alcohol. A second owns a nursery business, he knows cannabis is an up and coming market and he wants in too. The battle was half won – at least they know the truth and for some of them its important. Now, getting them to act on the truth… another in a series of challenging things for CAN to accomplish.

For now, Florida CAN is ready for the next chapter.

The addition of Florida trial attorney, John Morgan, onto the list of Floridians actively working to change cannabis laws puts Florida squarely on course for some sort of legal medical cannabis scheme. Whether through an act of the Feds, through our state legislature or by popular vote in November 2014, legal medical access is coming to Florida.

To support the efforts of Floridians to change cannabis laws, we took a lease on a wonderful office just west of US 1 in Melbourne, FL. We need help now getting the place ready for the public. You can follow our progress here on our blog, on this page dedicated to opening the office, on our website or on Facebook.

Whether it is a gathering place for training, a collection site for petitions, a workspace for talented writers, graphic artists, would be video producers or a fun place to host a Sunday members-only pot-luck dinner, the office is going to be a great addition to the Florida reform efforts.

Our soft opening is June 19.  By the soft opening, we plan to have programs in place, jobs for volunteers and an idea what hours make sense for our volunteers and staff. We hope the public will embrace our July 14 grand opening. Our grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 12:30 July 14. We hope you’ll mark your calendar and make an extra effort to be counted among the faithful who will see cannabis safe, legal and available in Florida.

The 900 Pound Gorilla in the Room

So here we are, over 40 years since the passage of the Federal Controlled Substance Act and the overriding moral of the story seems to be prohibition still doesn’t work. About 10 years ago, when I was working with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a friend and I were working around the clock to help people understand the failures of prohibition. We sat in room after room with people working on the ancillary issues caused by prohibition. We felt it was easy to see the real damage was created by prohibition and the rest were symptoms. We called prohibition the 900 pound gorilla in the room that no one wanted to discuss.

In an e-mail exchange today a new ally called prohibition the dead elephant in the room. In a Republican led legislature we don’t take stabs at elephants, but none the less ….

Whether you want to call it a dead 900 pound gorilla or a dead elephant the metaphor is working for me. I like the idea that we have gone from a big, damn beast – screeching – terrifying and something no one wanted to face, to a carcass. A stinking mess even. So how do you get a dead gorilla out of the middle of a room, unfortunately the answer may be – one piece at a time.

I’ve never been much of an incrementalist. I worked with cops calling for the end of prohibition and when you look at the likes of Al Capone and the corruption laid out in shows like the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, you have to look twice at prohibition. But prohibition is a huge beast.

Our medical cannabis bill in the Florida House and Senate isn’t perfect, but it begins the process of cutting the dead gorilla into manageable pieces. Even I had no idea how illegal cannabis is in Florida. Statute after statute makes cannabis a little more illegal. So while HB 1139 and SB 1250 are only talking about medical access to cannabis and does nothing for the 40,000 people arrested in Florida for under 20 grams of cannabis, it does takes patients out of the criminal justice system and that is a good place to start.

We need good policies. We want cannabis policies that increase public safety, protect patients and provide the public with piece of mind. We need the stinking beast out of the room and we can do this, even if it means tackling the beast one piece at a time.





Day 8 of the legislative session
52 days left to bring safe, legal access to Florida in 2013.

Cathy and Bob Jordan work on Florida Cannabis Bills HB 1139 and SB 1250

Join Cathy and Bob Jordan as they travel to the Capitol to encourage support for HB 1139 and SB 1250. This is actually the fourth day of session.

CANFest Is Coming!

November seems like a long way away, especially with the constant slug fest between Republicans and Democrats over things that seem petty when compared with 75 years of cannabis prohibition, fueled by racism and greed. CANFest is not a partisan event -- in fact, both sides of the aisle have much to benefit from ending the prohibition of cannabis.

I have met many people from all parties -- Democrat, Independent, Green, Libertarian, and Republican -- all of whom think that cannabis prohibition is a farce.  For the most part, we all want the same thing -- safe, legal access to cannabis for all who need it and all adults who want it.

CANFest is a Melbourne, Florida event that was revived last year and brought thousands of supporters together from around the state and around the country.  Held on Thanksgiving weekend, it was two full days of a musical, motivational medley that had been missing from Brevard for some time. The bands were awesome, headlined on Saturday night by Reggae icon Pato Banton.  My neighbor even won his guitar in a raffle.

This year will be different.  CANFest will be at the same time and place, but there will be a whole new lineup.  Bands from around the country have already submitted samples to express their interest in playing at CANFest. There will be great music, great fun, cool things to shop for, food for the body, food for the brain, coffee and tea.  There will be speakers, art and many forms of free expression.  Go to http://www.canfest.org to find out more.

Florida CAN is producing CANFest for a purpose.  Your sponsorship, membership, and donations will make it possible to AGAIN send the experts to fight for your rights in Tallahassee, where prohibition meets the pen. Florida CAN makes it easy to notify your representatives that you support changes in cannabis policy in Florida.  We have an ongoing campaign to send letters and petitions to active members of the Florida Legislature, and this is a key element to change.  Visit http://www.fldecides.org to tell YOUR representatives that YOU support the reform of cannabis laws.

David McKinney
Executive Board
FL Cannabis Action Network