Fun piece from the Florida Clarion —
Saint Petersburg elected Democratic Representative Daryll Rouson has been let go from the powerful and politically connected Morgan & Morgan law firm after he sponsored a bill to ban smoking devices in Florida while his boss was at the same time campaigning to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
The fallout between John Morgan and Daryll Rouson has been expected from political insiders who forsaw Rouson’s ouster once he sponsored the bill to ban all smoking devices in Florida.
Stan Myers, a Democratic communications specialist stated, “It must have been an insult to John Morgan who had promised to donate at least $500,000 towards a Florida bill to allow the use of marijuana for extreme medical conditions. The marijuana fight is a personal issue for him.”
Mr. Morgans brother and father both suffered from serious medical conditions and both experienced physical and emotional relief after ingesting the intoxicant. Mr. Morgan admitted that marijuana “made it possible for his father and brother to sit down and enjoy a nice meal.”
The Rouson anti-smoking devices bill would have forced the closure of most of the tobacco retailers in the state and caused an enormous strain on Florida’s commercial strip centers, which just recently witnessed the closure of over 1,000 existing storefront businesses when the legislature passed the internet cafe bill, which outlawed the strip-mall mini-casinos from operating throughout Florida. The deathblow to Florida commercial real estate would have come from the loss of the additional tobacco retailers.
Rouson claims the intent of the anti smoking devices bill was to make it more difficult to purchase wooden pipes, bongs, and other tobacco smoking devices that could potentially be used to smoke illegal weed. Contrary to the intent of the original anti smoking devices bill, the final version only prohibits selling smoking devices if a retail store knowingly and willingly sells the smoking devices for illegal purposes.
Florida’s elected representatives are claiming victory for passing the anti-smoking devices bill but they have only succeeded in wasting taxpayer money and resources to pass a bill that is no different than the previous federal and state laws tobacco retailers were operating under – which also made it illegal to claim or infer that a smoking device might be used to ingest an illegal substance.
The Bong Bill was bogus from the beginning and the final version is a sham. It does nothing to prevent the sale or use of smoking devices in Florida.
