With only a little over a month until the election, time is running out for campaigns around the country to try and push their message – and Florida is going to be seeing quite the battle between medical marijuana advocates and opposition. The No on 2 campaign is ruthless with their lies, clearly in hopes that the population is uneducated enough when it comes to cannabis that they will simply vote no out of fear. While that may have worked the last time around, the Yes on 2 campaign run by United for Care is absolutely preparing to fight back.
The No on 2 campaign has already paid over $1 million towards television time, where they will be introducing videos much like (and some the same) as those on YouTube already – all of which show an over-exaggerated and stereotypical view of the medical marijuana industry in California. They use terminology like “pot shops” and try to convince people that the state will be filled with “marijuana candy” that will be marketed to children – all of which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Luckily, the United for Care campaign received a $1 million donation from a pro-medical marijuana group called New Approach. This was some much needed funding that will help Yes on 2 get their own advertisements on television, in hopes of reaching enough viewers with the truth about Amendment 2. One of their videos features a physician – Dr. Jeff Kamlet – who explains how Amendment 2 will give him the ability to legally recommend medical marijuana as a compassionate treatment option.
With this new donation, the campaign will at least have a chance of coming close to what the opposition is spending on the remaining weeks of campaigning. However, from the very beginning United for Care has not been worried about outspending, or even matching the opposition, when it comes to funding – they just want to get their message out, to at least make people curious enough to do some research of their own, rather than seeing the No on 2 lies and believing them all.
With the support of major groups like the democrats of Florida and Senator Brandes, and all the polls sitting just above 70% in support of the amendment, things definitely appear to be going better than in 2014. However, that does not mean that United for Care should get too comfortable – things could change quickly over the next five weeks – and it’s going to take a lot of consistency and correcting people who believe the lies spread by No on 2 – but if they can keep it up, if they can keep their presence known, we have a good chance of seeing a full fledged medical marijuana program in Florida soon.
