Through Music and Education, Activists Hope To Get Medical Marijuana On the Florida Ballot

As the oldest bar in Miami, Tobacco Road has been serving drinks since before prohibition.

That is why it is only fitting that the downtown bar has defiantly stood against Florida’s prohibition against medical marijuana for more than a decade by hosting the annual medical marijuana benefit concert.

Saturday made it 12 years in a row. Another step closer to what organizers hope will get the medical marijuana initiative on the ballot. A measure that seems more hopeful than ever now that Barack Obama is president.

“Obama says he will leave it up to the states if they want to pass medical marijuana, which is a complete turnaround from the Bush administration,” said C.D. Flash, owner of the Wallflower Gallery in downtown Miami and main organizer of the medical marijuana benefit concert.

The Bush Administration was very adamant about prosecuting medical marijuana users by enforcing federal anti-pot laws despite existing state laws that allowed medical marijuana to be used.

The Obama Administration, on the other hand, said it would respect state laws regarding the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Currently, 14 states allowed medical marijuana to be used. Florida is not one of them.

That, however, could change if supporters petition enough signatures for a ballot initiative.

“We need to get 700,000 signatures to get it on the ballot,” Flash said.

So far, organizers have collected more than 35,000 signatures, including 700 from Saturday’s benefit concert at Tobacco Road. They have until February 2012 to get it on the November 2012 ballot.

And even once they get it on the ballot, it is still an uphill ballot because it would require a 60 percent majority vote for it to be approved.

“I think there is a lot of closet smokers who will support the issue once they get in the voting booth, but there is also a lot of overt ignorance regarding medical marijuana,” Flash said.

Above: Bill Ranagan of Pure Vaporette demonstrates a healthier way to smoke tobacco. We swear it’s tobacco.

The Benefit Concert

More than 200 performers participated in this year’s marijuana medical benefit concert, performing on three stages from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m.

One of the performers was Alonso Menendez, better known as Alonso the Poet, who recited his spoken word poetry to the music of several bands throughout the night.

He understands that making medical marijuana legal in Florida is almost an impossible task because of the 60 percent requirement that comes with citizen initiative amendments. Even in California, which is a much more liberal state, it passed with 55 percent of the vote.

“If you look at history, all the major changes in society started out as lost causes,” he said. “So the lost cause isn’t so lost after all, it just needs people who are willing to stand up and push for change while everyone else chooses to sit down.

“The reason it is so important it be legalized in florida is the same reason it be legalized across the country. Because people are suffering needlessly and politicians think they know more than doctors when it comes to what’s best for us.”

Although a multitude of vendors, artists and activists also set up booths in the parking lot to promote the use of medicinal marijuana, you’d be hard-pressed to find any actual weed. It wasn’t a mini-Woodstock.

The drug of choice, in fact, was alcohol.

“It’s not the pot fest people think it is,” Flash said. “It was more of an 11-hour public service announcement in support of medical marijuana.”

And while other businesses have shied away from the event because of its controversial message, Tobacco Road has always been supportive.

“I have come across many other businesses that just scared to even allow me to put out flyers about the show,” Flash said.

But the only marijuana that was visible to the public eye was being smoked on stage by Irvin Rosenfeld, who has been legally allowed to smoke medical marijuana since 1982 under a federal program that was discontinued by George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Rosenfeld, who was one of only a handful of medical marijuana patients to be grandfathered under the previous law, has bone tumors, which causes his bones to grow outwardly and forces his muscles and veins to stretch, causing much pain.

The only relief he gets is from smoking between 10 to 12 joints a day, which allow his muscles to relax. It doesn’t even give him a europhic high.

But it does allow him to live a normal life, where he works as a stockbroker and volunteers his time at Shake-A-Leg Miami to teach disabled people how to sail.

“I wouldn’t be able to do any of that without the medical marijuana,” said Rosenfeld, who has been married for more than 30 years and has a book coming out this April on his experiences and activism.

“I probably wouldn’t be alive without the medical marijuana.”

To help get the medical marijuana initiative on the Florida ballot, check out the People United for Medical Marijuana website.

Above photos: Zen the Band performs on the patio stage.

Above: Fans cheer Zen the Band

Above: Alonso the Poet performs spoken word poetry with Zen the Band

Above: Iraq veterans and war resisters Victor Agosto and Camilo Mejia were also in attendance.

Above: Harold Tanos of Miami Vape also sells vapor pipes, which supposedly offer a healthier alternative to smoking.

Related Links: • A New Direction in US Medical Marijuana Policy • Should marijuana be legalized? • Cop calls 911 fearing Marijuana overdose - Very funny Related Categories: Carlos Miller is a featured writer at Miami Beach 411. He also operates Photography is Not a Crime, a blog about photographer rights, New Media and First Amendment issues. See more articles by Carlos Miller. See more articles by Carlos Miller Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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