Florida's Leadership Crisis

Day 13
Remaining Committees 7
Remaining Days to hear the bills 34
Remaining Funding - 17 days

While our calls and e-mails are having a tremendous impact on the reception I am getting in Tallahassee, it is apparent we have a leadership crisis.

Lawmakers are opening their eyes to the incredible impact this plant has on a variety of ailments. Personal stories and the sheer flood of e-mails is like a rising tide, it lifts all boats.

The problem is, Florida has a leadership crisis. Republican hold a firm majority in both the House and the Senate, since both HJR 353 and SJR 1028 are sponsored by Democratic, the leadership is in no hurry to act on our bills.

While committee chairs have a lot of pull, the agenda is set by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. There is one person from the House and one person in the Senate beside the Speaker and President who can give our bills the consideration they deserve.

No Republican is going to stand out front on our issue until the leadership gives the nod. We need an opportunity to put all the Republicans in the same room, face-to-face with experts and patients. The perfect way to make that happen is a caucus workshop.

At the prompting of the Majority Leaders, the entire group of elected republicans will attend a caucus meeting. At these meetings, they hear from experts, discuss strategy, and receive their marching orders.

February 1, 2012, we are creating a coordinated statewide day of action. We need everyone to make just two simple phone calls.

February 1 we need people to call Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner at 850-487-5184; then call House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera at 850-488-1993.

Here is a simple script you can follow. When the aide answers the phone,

Introduce yourself and tell them what part of the state you are from.
Explain what you have learned about medical cannabis or the effect medical cannabis has on your life or that of your loved one,
Here’s the important part,
Ask the Majority Leader to hold a caucus hearing so their members can get the same education about the benefits of cannabis you received.

We know cannabis is good medicine. We know cannabis is a safe medicine. The medical use of cannabis has stood the test of time. This is no new medicine. This isn’t even a new policy; 17 states already have protections for patients using cannabis.

Now we need to make sure the leadership hears from enough people to tip the balance to overcome our leadership crisis.