cannabisnews.com: MMJ Group Displays Message on Billboards function share_this(num) { tit=encodeURIComponent('MMJ Group Displays Message on Billboards'); url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/26/thread26884.shtml'); site = new Array(5); site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit; site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit; window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500'); return false; } MMJ Group Displays Message on Billboards Posted by CN Staff on March 13, 2012 at 18:46:07 PT Special To The Sun Source: Sun-Sentinel Florida -- Advocates for medical marijuana reform are targeting what may seem an unlikely demographic: senior South Floridians. And Tuesday morning, they spelled out their message in sky-high letters across two billboards along Sample Road about a mile east of Powerline Road. Tinted sky blue and cloud pink, the 14-by-48-foot billboards are on the north side of the street, visible to eastbound drivers."Legalize Medical Marijuana" shouts one, with a godlike hand extending from the heavens, a marijuana leaf in its palm. Facing it is the photo of a senior in a wheelchair and the caption "I'm a Patient Not a Criminal." Down the road apiece, just after a billboard advertising a service for clogged drains, stands the second big sign. "Reschedule Medical Marijuana" it reads. Below it is a quote from former administrative Judge Francis L. Young's ruling about pot in a 1988 case: "One of the Safest Therapeutically Active Substances Known to Man."The billboards urge viewers — some 54,500 cars pass that section of Sample Road daily, according to the state Department of Transportation — to learn more at The Silver Tour, the billboards' sponsor.The Silver Tour was founded by Robert Platshorn, of West Palm Beach, former operator of a '70s pot smuggling operation out of Miami labeled the Black Tuna Gang. Platshorn was released from federal prison about four years ago.Platshorn, 69, is dedicated to enlightening seniors about the benefits of medical marijuana. He has preached his gospel at temples and community centers. Marijuana, he says, can alleviate maladies common to the elderly, and even replace sleeping pills with unwanted side effects."Wouldn't it be kinder to give Mom a joint to smoke and let her go to sleep with a smile on her face?" he said.While many young people already support legalization of medicinal cannabis, seniors bring a special advantage to the cause. "Seniors are an active political force," Platshorn said. "Seniors vote, seniors have time to contact their representives."The last Silver Tour show, at a Boyton Beach synagogue in January, resulted in 400 calls to state lawmakers from attendees, Platshorn said.To celebrate the billboards, about a dozen pro-legalization figures gathered at the All Stars Sports Bar & Grill in a strip plaza near the signs.There was the legendary Irvin Rosenfeld, 59, the Fort Lauderdale stockbroker who has been smoking some 300 joints a month — approved and provided by the government — to keep a bone disease in check. Also on hand was Charlie Strout, 56, a disabled Marine Corps vet from Pompano Beach who is denied what he feels would ease his spinal injury: pot."I would love to try it," he said. "In talking to the doctors, they said it would be very beneficial."Strout spent $5,000 of his own money to pay for the billboards, which will remain up for a month.Platshorn is raising money for more billboards and senior tours, and has a 30-minute infomercial in production. "I really want to get something done in this state," he said.Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (FL)Published: March 13, 2012Copyright: 2012 South Florida Sun-SentinelContact: rnolin tribune.com Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/05b46enjCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by rchandar on April 10, 2012 at 12:19:37 PT: Hello, You Thief! Florida is world famous for weed. It's the place where they take your money and sell you fake s #t. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by rchandar on March 21, 2012 at 17:20:55 PT: Solutions? There is no solution other than aggressive legal confrontation. Gandhiji did not simply raise placards and protest, nor did MLK. Injustices like MJ prohibition must be fought in the courts. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by rchandar on March 17, 2012 at 16:04:25 PT: He's Two-Faced, Runruff Obama made his usual ploy to 'white, working class voters' by stressing the importance of Christian faith. It's a familiar hiccup in a Democratic presidency, and characterises politicians around the world: I want the hearts and votes of middle-class voters, who spend more money.You could try Morocco's decision to outlaw kif in 1956. Or, the current situation in the Netherlands. Trained intellectuals tend to screw over potheads and the whole business. They are bred on the notion that conformity with authority justifies their power. No, the clearest route for the USA is decrim. When a majority of the states say, 'we won't enforce this,' it will make it much to tougher for the Feds to claim that, someday soon, the vigilance of right-thinking 'citizens' can ever dream of shutting down marijuana. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by rchandar on March 17, 2012 at 13:06:00 PT: Florida There is a conflict of legal intention. If you get caught in Florida with less than 20 grams of MJ, you could go to jail for up to 1 year, plus a $1,000 fine.This law, for recreational users, is wholly inconsistent with the idea of sanctioned MMJ. For that matter, it too must be amended to reflect the diversity of Floridians. Restated, Florida should go decrim. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by runruff on March 14, 2012 at 09:41:10 PT Do you realize? That every state that legalizes cannabis for any reason is publicly calling the feds and the DEA in particular, liars!The total population of these states add up to millions of people who are going to a lot of trouble and expense to put into their faces that we know they are liars. Mickey [the Mouse] and the Leon Heartbeats are lying and they know it. Sixteen states and DC all say they are destructive liars, so what do they do? Up the ante. The worry now is that the dirty whores in congress will give the liars even more power to enforce their lies. This train is heading for the proverbial crash! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment