Today on Context Florida:
Whether it is accountability in education, protection of environmentally sensitive lands, or transparency in government, Florida has led on issues with national implications, Peter Schorsch writes. Now, the state has another prospect in the burgeoning movement of medical marijuana regulation. We need to get it right, Schorsch says, because Florida has a unique opportunity to become a national model for producing and dispensing this stigmatized class of potentially lifesaving drugs.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist says if elected governor again in November, he would again issue executive orders dealing with climate change. Bruce Ritchie says we have been down that road before — and it did not take us very far. If Crist is elected and does what he says, you can expect a battle with industry groups and their allies in the Legislature.
Florida needs a state constitutional amendment to ban all wagering in Florida, according to Stephen Goldstein. Oddly, raising taxes is considered a cardinal sin, but gambling is supposedly a blessing — especially since the state began pimping it through the Florida Lottery.
Two weeks ago, Context Florida asked why former Gov. Jeb Bush, an advocate for immigrants, remained silent while more than 50,000 unaccompanied child-refugees crossed into the United States. However, Julie Delegal notes that on July 23, in an op-ed in the Washington Post, Bush abandoned that advocacy in favor of right-wing partisan politics.
