ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The same attorney who championed medical marijuana in Florida now says he thinks it’s high time to legalize it for recreational use.
In a tweet on Tuesday referring to himself as #PotDaddy, Orlando attorney John Morgan said he was “too old to care” about opposition to a proposal to legalize recreation weed.
“I believe that #marijuana should be legal!!” Morgan posted to Twitter. "I think we have time and I think there is money to get it done. I already have the minimum wage signatures. Let’s do this maybe, forget Tallahassee! #ForThePeople - #PotDaddy”
Up until the Tuesday tweet, Morgan had said his plate was full with his own 2020 ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Though last summer he hinted at his support of a ballot initiative then, tweeting it “would pass with flying colors" and "money won’t be a problem" because the industry is "well-funded."
However, Morgan seems to be hesitant to lead the charge himself, according to various media reports.
Morgan previously spent $7 million to successfully legalize medical marijuana in 2016.
Getting a statewide referendum on the ballot in Florida requires roughly 800,000 valid signatures. In this case, those signatures would need to be collected by Feb. 1, 2020.
Regulate Florida, which is backing a 2020 constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana, has gathered more than 76,632 verified signatures as of this week — which is enough to trigger a review by the Florida Supreme Court.
California, Colorado and Michigan are among 10 states where recreational marijuana is legal.
Morgan’s push comes as 65 percent of Florida voters polled recently by Quinnipiac University said they supported legalized recreational marijuana, a number the polling company noted is at “an all-time high.”
A Florida state lawmaker filed a bill Monday that would decriminalize possession of certain amounts of marijuana in the state.
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