Florida’s Amendment 2 Shot Down

Now that the elections are over and the dust has settled, we can finally accept the fact that Florida won’t be approving medical Marijuana – this year, at least. Though the amendment received 58% of the vote, it needed 60% to pass. The ironic part of that is that the amendment to require 60% of the population’s support didn’t even receive 60% itself to pass.

Many Floridians are upset because those that they love and care for won’t be able to get some much-needed relief. There’s one person who’s celebrating, though – Sheldon Adelson.

As many of you know, Sheldon Adelson has made it his life goal to squash online gambling once and for all. In doing so, he’s looked for support anywhere he can get it. He’s donating to various organizations in hopes of getting their support when it comes time to vote. For that reason, he donated $2.5 million to Drug Free Florida’s campaign against medical Marijuana.

I know what you’re thinking – “hey, maybe the old guy just really hates Marijuana? That’s not connected to online gambling at all!” It may appear like that on paper, but look deeper.

Sheldon Adelson is the Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands. He’s been feeling particularly threatened by the amount of revenue that sites can generate, and he knows that his casinos can’t compete with the no deposit promotions that sites run, so he lashes out.

It was revealed earlier this year that Florida lawmakers are considering expanding gambling in either 2014 or 2015. Guess who wants a piece of that action? You guessed it, Sheldon Adelson. He hopes to expand his Las Vegas Sands empire into Florida, and he wants to become the most powerful casino brand in the state, so he’s donating to campaigns that will likely support him in the future.

Again, we could be reading too much into it. It could all be coincidental, right? There’s no way he’s thinking that far into the future, is he? He absolutely is.

Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, are major donors to a medical research facility in Tel Aviv. What does that facility support? The use of Marijuana to treat diseases. He’s literally funding both sides of the debate for very, very different reasons. The fact that he supports medical Marijuana in Tel Aviv but doesn’t support it for the state of Florida is a gigantic red flag – when it comes to domestic issues, he’s only in this for himself.

The failure of Amendment 2 paves the way for Sheldon Adelson to expand the Las Vegas Sands Corporation into Florida, and should online gambling ever get to a vote in Florida, he’ll likely have a ton of support against it. Unfortunately for him, people likely won’t feel the same way, and it’ll pass regardless.