Four-Twenty Caucus

Days in Tallahassee 17
Remaining committees 7
Remaining Days for bills to be heard 28
Remaining days of funding 13

I stayed out of the Capital complex yesterday. After Wednesday, I was a little depressed.

Wednesday was awesome. Amy C and I had a great series of meetings culminating in that conversation with Jim, the policeman. I knew from the messages I was getting throughout the day that people really were calling into the Majority offices in both the House and the Senate. Sweet taste of success.

Then the President of the Senate, Mike Haridopolis, walked into the Criminal Justice Committee and fired Senator Fasano. I’ve written about the control the leadership exerts on the legislative process and Jeff Clemens talks about it during his presentation at the January 29, 2012 Silver Tour.

Talk about stealing the show. By four-twenty on Wednesday, the only thing anyone was talking about at the Capital was the schoolyard bully stunt pulled by the President. It was super unprofessional but it showed loud and clear, if the leadership doesn’t want something to move it won’t move.

I spent Thursday taking care of business and planning our final days here in the Capital. The highlight of the Thursday was the Miami Herald Blog. While I was so sure our day of action was overshadowed by the Presidents folly, it was a pleasant surprise to find “Cannabis Calling”.

The Miami Herald and later the Tampa Bay Tribune, both ran Cannabis Calling. The blip talked about the relentless calls received by the Majority Leaders office asking for a caucus. Representatives Lopez-Cantera is quoted as jokingly calling it the “420 Caucus”

Today’s tactic was two-fold, while hundreds of people sent e-mails about the effect of cannabis on Alzheimer’s, a disease that effects over 450,000 Floridians right now, I deliver information on the Endocannabinoid System to the medical professions in the House. Representative Grant of Tampa was quoted recently as wanting Florida to be a medical destination state! I wanted to be certain our lawmakers understand the importance of cannabis in the next wave of cutting edge medical discovery.

I had mixed feels about the four-twenty caucus remark – I laughed, not sure if it was so funny, but I was thrilled to make the news!

After one too many cups of coffee I headed in the Senate Majority office to ask about our caucus. While I was there, leaving the information on the Endocannabinoid system and explaining we wanted to bring in professionals to speak to the leadership, Lori from Sarasota called and shared her story. The aide said she’d heard incredible stories, calls from patients, family members and doctors.

By the time I got to Lopez-Cantera’s office I was full of righteous anger. Five aides sat enjoying their Friday on government time when I marched into the office. “I’m the four-twenty caucus representative” I announced. Then I promptly let them have it with both barrels. Not sure who was calling their office the past two days, the Senate Majority was hearing from suffering people, caregivers and doctors – making the Representatives little snide not funny on so many levels. Does the Representative think the suffering of thousands who need this medicine is funny?” The lowered eyes showed the appropriate amount of shame.

I gave my five minutes – using the two drop pieces, explained the emerging applications, the pages and pages of footnoted studies. How would we ever be the leader in medical research if we are not opening the door for this plant? Five aides asked questions and agreed to share the information with the Majority Leader.

Next week, we have appointments set with the incoming President and the Speaker. Time is growing short but we are still putting on the pressure full steam ahead.

We ran into Representative Clemen’s tonight at dinner. He talked again about what a difference having a full-time, knowledgeable representative here pushing the issue. He reports he still gets the occasional joke from colleagues, but more and more Republicans are talking to him about the issue. Where before they told him never, now, the message is, the time is coming.

For thousands of patients, “the time is coming” isn’t soon enough.

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.