In the national battle over legalization of marijuana, Miami Beach has become a key piece of strategic turf.
Pot proponents have gathered 9,000 signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to decriminalize marijuana in the city of nearly 90,000 people. That's more than twice the number of signatures needed, but the city commission shot down their request to put it on the ballot last week.
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Leading the charge is Miami Beach mayoral candidate Steve Berke. Behind Berke, who is a comedian by trade, is none other than Roger Stone, the self-admitted political dirty trickster who got his start with Richard Nixon, has been credited with bringing down former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, served as the political director for Scott Rothstein before the Ponzi scheme imploded, and is a top political advisor to Donald Trump. Stone, pictured here with Ronald Reagan, is not only backing Berke and the Miami Beach marijuana initiative but is also working behind the scenes to get a referendum to legalize medical marijuana placed on the statewide ballot.
"I'm for decriminalizing marijuna because I'm a libertarian," Stone said this morning. "It's the same reason I'm for gay marriage and the same reason I'm for the First Amendment. The War on Drugs has been a trillion dollar failure and classifying marijuana in the same class as cocaine and crystal meth doesn't make any sense. ... "
In the Miami Beach marijuana push, there's also (surprise, surprise) a political motive: A marijuana referendum would likely bring out younger non-establishment voters who would be more likely to vote for Berke over his opponent, incumbent Mayor Matti Bower. That's why Stone and Berke say Bower is against the marijuana referendum, though she has indicated it may go on the ballot next year.
"A special election next year will cost the city at least $200,000," said Berke in a press release. "Mayor Matti Bower and her high-tax cohorts fear an influx of younger and more progressive voters who would be drawn to the polls by a marijuana initiative."
Stone -- pointing to successful pot decriminalization efforts in Denver, Seattle, and Philadelphia -- calls Miami Beach a "warm-up" for his statewide medical marijuana initiative. He says he's working to gather money and proponents for the measure but has yet to get much support on either front.
"Miami Beach is an important beachhead on this issue," said Stone. "They won't put it on the ballot. We got 9,000 signatures and in a local election in Miami Beach you might get 9,000 votes total."