An anti-drug group looking to squash the legalization of medical marijuana in the state has released a website and an eight-minute ad that says that if Amendment 2 passes, marijuana will be legalized in Florida.
In the video titled "The Devil is in the Details," the group claims that Amendment 2 is fraught with legal loopholes and language that would allow pot to be smoked and sold on the streets willy-nilly.
Amendment 2 is not about legalizing medical marijuana, the video says, it's about legalizing weed.
The video, and website -- VoteNo2.org -- is the product of Drug Free Florida, the group that has teamed up with the Florida Sheriffs Association in an attempt to try and spread the word on the evils of pot.
Drug Free Florida is chaired by Carlton Turner, Ronald Reagan's former drug czar who once said that marijuana leads to homosexuality and AIDS.
Florida Sheriffs Association president Sheriff Grady Judd appears in the video.
"A vote for Amendment 2," he says in the video, "is a vote for legalizing marijuana forever in the state of Florida."
The video goes on to show other so-called experts, including a former drug dealer turned minister, who attest that the loopholes in Amendment 2 are so wide, Florida will basically become one giant rampant marijuana party while children watch.
While advocates for Amendment 2 have claimed over and over the initiative is only about getting medical marijuana legalized for those with debilitating illnesses, Drug Free Florida insists that anyone and everyone will be allowed to legally purchase weed.
"Under Amendment 2, so-called medical pot can be obtained without a doctor's prescription," the voice over guy says.
The video claims that because the ballot initiative allows that pot pot be prescribed for certain debilitating diseases as well as "other conditions," people will exploit the law and buy pot legally for any little pain they claim to have.
"This legal loophole effectively legalizes marijuana in the Sunshine State," the video says.
A former drug dealer and current minister named "Dee" Reed says that there will be so many pot shops opening, we'll have nowhere safe to take our families and children. Teenagers will be able to purchase pot just by claiming they can't sleep, or are stressed out, he warns.
The video also tries to equate legal medical marijuana with the 2010 pill mills craze that hit Florida, with sheriff Judd claiming that pot shops will start opening next to elementary schools and high schools. The video says if Amendment 2 passes, pot shops will be the new pill mills.
"You're going to have pot in your neighborhoods because there are no restrictions," another man says in the video.
The main message of "The Devil is in the Details" is that, should Amendment 2 pass, Florida will essentially become one giant bong.
Of course, every single claim made in the video is up for serious debate. But having a sheriff, and a former drug dealer, and scary music and shots of families surrounded by pot shops is an effective way to scare the crap out of people into thinking Amendment 2 is nothing but a highway to one big weed-a-palooza.
Advocates for Amendment 2 say there's no way any of this would be the case.
"If there was any doubt, the Florida Supreme Court has already ruled that the amendment will only be used in cases of debilitating illness," United for Care campaign manager Ben Pollara told New Times. "The purpose of the amendment is to allow the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician."
But Turner and Drug Free Florida continue to say that's not the case. Turner calls the legalization of medical marijuana a "con job."
"It's not about medicine," he said, per the Tampa Tribune. "It's about legalization of drugs, and marijuana is their choice to start."
Pollara, however, reminds people to look at the amendment.
"In its wording," Pollara says, "the amendment specifically says: 'Nothing in this section authorizes the use of medical marijuana by anyone other than a qualifying patient.'"
You can watch the whole video below. BE SURE TO AVERT THE CHILDREN'S EYES FROM ALL THE POT.
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