Wild, Wild West of Potent Marijuana Products
Junior Volleyball Tournament
By Margie Menzel
By Trebor Britt
Continued from cover story
But Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, the group driving the amendment, said the anti-pot coalitions arguments were misleading. “This is about getting relief to really sick and suffering people,” Pollara said. “Our opponents look at the polls and see that Floridians probably support medical marijuana and are either split or opposed to the adult use of marijuana. And the way that they think they can win this campaign is by tricking people into believing this is about something other than what it really is, which is the medical use of marijuana.” The constitutional amendment requires approval from 60 percent of voters to pass, and polling has been inconsistent. A Quinnipiac University poll released in early May showed that 88 percent of Florida voters support allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes. But Sarah Bascom, spokeswoman for the “Don’t Let Florida Go to Pot” campaign, pointed to a poll out Tuesday June 10 that was conducted for The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. It showed that roughly 54 percent of Miami-Dade County voters supported the medical
marijuana measure --- not enough for it to pass in November. And that was in a heavily Democratic county. “It’s completely at odds with what every poll has found on the topic in the last year and a half,” Pollara said of the Miami-Dade poll. “I don’t really think much of it.” The polls are inconsistent because they are changing, University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus said. “I suspect some of them were fairly accurate at the time they were taken,” she said. “But you’ve got to put them in the time frame of when they were asked and what’s going on. It makes a difference as to what kind of stories have been carried on television in what markets on the whole issue of marijuana in Colorado and groups coming out against it. The publicity, in other words, can really change peoples minds on this issue.” MacManus said she thought the ballot measure could go either way. A political committee that is helping fund opposition to the amendment raised $2.6 million in May, with $2.5 million coming from Republican super-donor and Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson. That committee, the Drug Free Florida Committee, had received $100,000 before May. A spokesman for United for Care, the group backing the amendment, said it raised $195,359 in May. News Service of Florida
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Spanish Bayonet (Yucca aloifolia) is salt tolerant and grows well in hot, dry areas. There are clones with gold or gold and pink striped foliage. It is native to Florida and attracts butterflies. This specimen makes a dramatic landscape statement, its dark green, stiff, dagger-like leaves projecting from thick, inclining trunks. Spikes of bright white blossoms appear in the center of the plant above the foliage in springtime to late summer depending on the year. With the sharp-needled tips removed with shears, Spanish bayonet makes a wonderful accent at entryways or in a shrub border. Their striking texture adds an accent to any garden. Plants eventually form attractive, multi-stemmed clumps. Photo Source: The Florida Botanical Gardens website
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Left: Gabby Culhane (14) passes the ball to her pairs partner at the juniors beach volleyball tournament on Siesta Beach.
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Above: Gabby Culhane (14) and Emma Czaja (14) of Brandon competed in the Siesta Key Junior Beach Tour Grand Slam Volleyball Tournament on Siesta Beach recently. They’ve competed in 3 tournaments as beach volleyball pairs partners. In two previous tournaments, they won a bronze medal in one and made it to the semi finals in another.
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It’s very cleverly written so that there can be use and abuse.” Judd and other members of the group said they want to educate voters about the dangers of the amendment, which they consider to be so loosely written that Floridians of all ages will be able to obtain marijuana if it passes in November. We are literally looking at an unleashing of a Wild, Wild West of potent marijuana products, said Calvina Faye, executive director of Drug Free America. A ballot summary that voters will see when they go to the polls says, in part, the medical use of marijuana would be allowed for people with “debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician.” The more-detailed text of the amendment lists diseases such as cancer, glaucoma and HIV and also refers to “other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.” Judd said that given the example of states that have legalized medical marijuana, such as California, the “other conditions” in the amendment could include sleeplessness, stress, cramps and pain from a sore back or broken arm. “If you just look at the history of what we’ve gone through with pill mills, you can imagine that it would be the same type of doctors making those recommendations,” Faye said.
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