http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2013/8/1/push_is_on_for_medic.htmlTALLAHASSEE --
The push to legalize medical marijuana is gaining support in Florida and across the country.
And one of the biggest legal names in Florida is among those leading the efforts. If well-known attorney John Morgan gets his way, Florida voters will get to decide whether to legalize medical marijuana.
Right now, medical marijuana users risk going to jail in Florida.
Bob Jordan, the husband of a marijuana user said, "We know it's an uphill battle, but it's a battle worth fighting."
Jordan said marijuana saved his wife Cathy's life. She has been battling ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease) since 1991.
Both she and her husband believe she has survived for more than two decades because she smokes marijuana.
"She has medical necessity. She has to use it," Bob Jordan said. "There's nothing else out there that works. We've proven that. So they're saying they agree with her on using it, but you can't buy it or grow it."
It's that Catch 22 that has lawyers like Morgan pushing legislators to put the legalization of medical marijuana on the November 2014 ballot. He takes his pot fight to a political forum in Tallahassee on Thursday, but he says it is an uphill battle.
"I mean you can't even get a hearing in Tallahassee," Morgan said. "They were having hearings on everything else, but not on this."
Morgan is pledging to pump $20 million into an amendment campaign for 2014.
For the amendment to be put on the ballot, Morgan's group "People United for Medical Marijuana" needs to collect 700,000 signatures.
For Morgan, it's a personal issue. His father had both cancer and emphysema, and he attributes medical marijuana to lessening his father's pain.
But although the Jordans support the idea, for Cathy, 2014 could be too late.
"I am very grateful that this is gonna happen," she said. "But I'm really hoping that the current House and Senate will work with us and get it done this year."
Currently, 18 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of medical marijuana.
