We sometimes lose count of how out of step Florida is from the rest of the country, and the example of that is the bill Rick Scott signed last week that makes it a bit more difficult to purchase paraphernalia to smoke marijuana, though as the Tampa Tribune reports in its headline above the fold today, the bong ban has been "watered down," so stores will only get cited for selling bongs or pipes if a customer is dumb enough to admit he's purchasing it to smoke pot, and not tobacco.
Although critics have it out for St. Petersburg Democrat Darryl Rouson for his unflagging zeal for this and previous attempts to ban all such material from being available, the fact of the matter is the bill passed with virtually no opposition in either the House or Senate. That's despite the fact that polls indicate that voters support medical marijuana, already the law in 18 states but an effort that has previously gone nowhere (though hopes springs eternal next year now that Morgan & Morgan head John Morgan is spearheading the effort).
Today every member of the House of Representatives are getting a closed-door briefing from officials with the Department of Justice, the FBI and the NSA about what the government is actually doing with their surveillance techniques. Tampa area Democrat Kathy Castor told CL yesterday she looks forward to hearing more after the leaked media reports have surfaced over the past week.
If you didn't get the memo, MetroRapid is now happening in Hillsborough County, an advancement in bus service for those in North Tampa getting downtown and vice versa.
And on Sunday afternoon, members of the LGBT community in Hillsborough County celebrated the 7-0 vote with the Board of County Commissioners last week to repeal the ban on gay pride, and Commissioner Kevin Beckner was definitely the man of the hour there.
This article appears in Jun 6-12, 2013.
