Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Candidates scrambling to deposit pot money
Marijuana industry pours money into campaigns, but many banks won’t accept it See MONEY, 10A
The medical marijuana industry has contributed some $800,000 to more than 80 candidates and their political committees during the 2018 election cycle, according to a review of campaign finance records by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The contributions demonstrate the growing role that marijuana is taking in Florida’s economy and political arena, two years after voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Now candidates could be left scrambling for a place to deposit the money.
Wells Fargo decided to close the campaign account of Democratic Agriculture Commissioner candidate Nikki Fried after she accepted industry money. She then opened an account with BB&T, which also promptly closed it. She now banks with Florida Community Bank.
The federal government still consid-
by getting them to rehabilitation, or a place to live after drug rehab.
Interspersed with shots of the area’s beaches and luxury yachts, viewers see characters drift in and out of Allie’s orbit as she visits some of the roughest-looking areas in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Sometimes she’s summoned by phone. Other times, it’s a friend calling.
“It’s a lot about the forgotten people,” Severino said. “We’re showing what’s going on.”
The drug overdose epidemic killed more than 72,000 Americans last year, an increase of almost twothirds when compared with deaths in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Florida was particularly hard hit because the sober home industry saw an opportunity to bring people closer to Florida’s alluring sand and surf, fresh out of drug rehabilitation. In June, authorities announced 124 people in South Florida held as part of a nationwide crackdown on fraudulent health care billing and other crimes.
In recent years, many clients found themselves in an atmosphere that left them vulnerable to relapse.
Severino’s co-star, Frankie, is a recovering addict from Toledo, Ohio. In keeping with the Alcoholics Anonymous tradition, he goes by his first name only.
The pair offer an upclose, street-level view of the drug epidemic, said Pat McGee, the showrunner of the TV docuseries. “We go where Frankie and Allie take us, and we don’t know where we’re going to be,” McGee said. He calls them “two people who have been suffering, battling and sometimes winning this fight.”