James Call - page 55

The upcoming week in Tallahassee has medicinal marijuana events serving as bookends. A Quinnipiac University poll on Amendment 2 is to be released 6:00 a.m. Monday. Look to see if the opposition’s “de facto legalization” line of attack has reduced support for the initiative allowing doctors to use marijuana to treat patients.  Previous results indicated 82 percent of respondents voting yes in November. Then on Friday, the Department of Health holds a second workshop on proposed regulations for the Charlotte’s…

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Charlie Crist knows how to work a storyline. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, who as a Republican governor in 2007 said global warming was “one of the most important issues that we will face this is century,” was handed an opportunity to highlight a difference between himself and Gov. Rick Scott when Scott said, “I’m not a scientist,” in response to a question about climate change.  Friday, Crist met with one of the scientists who has offered to meet with Scott…

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Editor’s Note: this article is cross posted on PoliticsOfPot.com. The second draft of proposed rules governing Florida’s new medicinal marijuana will not be released until early next week. Linda McMullen, the director of the Office of Compassionate Use, notified the media and other interested parties Friday afternoon that additional comments have been received and a revised copy of proposed rules will be ready Monday or Tuesday. Florida’s Charlotte’s Web law allows five medical marijuana dispensaries to cultivate a specific strain of marijuana that…

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Editor’s note: this article is cross-posted on PoliticsOfPot.com:  Lobbying firm Ballard Partners has joined the “green rush,” signing two clients with interest in Florida’s burgeoning medicinal marijuana industry. Good Chemistry of Denver and Keith St. Germain Nursery of Homestead popped up on Ballard’s list of clients Wednesday on the state’s lobbying registration listing. Ballard Partners reported more than $1 million in earnings for the first quarter of 2014 and generally ranks among the top earners of the lobbying corps. With…

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Editor’s note: this article is cross-posted on PoliticsOfPot.com. The Florida Department of Health has scheduled a second rule-making workshop for the state’s new medicinal marijuana law. Investors and business advocates generally give the department, ahem, high marks for its first draft of a regulatory structure for the cultivation, processing and distribution of a medicinal marijuana product. However, many speakers at a July 7 public hearing about the first draft criticized many provisions and asked for more clarity in how the…

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Editor’s note: This article is cross-posted on PoliticsOfPot.com. A second workshop on Florida’s new medical marijuana law is scheduled for Aug. 1 in Tallahassee. Linda McMullen, director of the state’s Office of Compassionate Use, expects a draft rule to be ready for release by the end of this week. The Department of Health is developing a regulatory structure for a Charlotte’s Web law signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott in June. The measure allows doctors to authorize the use…

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Sha Na Na Na sang “Rock n Roll is Here to Stay” at Woodstock, and in 2014 it’s the music politicians use to attract the senior vote. Jon Bauman, known as Bowzer as a member of Sha Na Na, campaigned Tueday with Gwen Graham, the Democratic challenger of Republican incumbent Steve Southerland. This campaign season, Bauman is a front man for a PAC, Senior Votes Count, in targeted races across the country. The group is using an Alliance for Retired…

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