Personal injury lawyer John Morgan is taking the state to court over its newly adopted marijuana law. The outspoken medical cannabis advocate believes patients should be allowed to smoke the drug.
When John Morgan drafted Amendment Two—a medical cannabis initiative approved in 2016—he included language prohibiting smoking in public. He argues, logically, that means smoking in private is legal.
“If you go to a swimming pool at a hotel,” Morgan offers, “and it says no swimming after 9 pm, no swimming before 8 am, does it mean you can swim between 8 am and 9 pm?”
“The answer is yes.”
Morgan zeroes in on House sponsor Rep. Ray Rodrigues (R-Estero) for banning smoking. But Republican lawmakers in both chambers backed the provisions—the closest lawmakers would come is allowing patients to vaporize the drug.
Morgan says that’s not good enough.
“Do we give a rat’s ass if a person dying from ALS smokes instead of vapes?” Morgan asks, “I don’t.”
Morgan argues the Legislature is stepping between patients and their doctors. The 26 page complaint filed Thursday asks the court to block the state from enforcing its smoking ban against lawful patients.
