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June 1998
Firstly the newly formed Orlando local of the Socialist Party USA would like to send fraternal greetings to our comrades in the party and to all socialists around the world. Although our local is still in the formative stages, there are some activities to report:
Three comrades from the Orlando local participated in clinic defense in early June while the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue was in Orlando. One of the best aspects of the efforts to organize the local response to OR was that it brought together activists from many diverse groups: the SP, Voices for Justice, Food Not Bombs-Orlando, the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Fund, the Biblical America Resistance Front, Refuse and Resist (Miami and Atlanta) and the Socialist Workers Party (Miami). This can only help to make the left/progressive community in Florida stronger in the future.
Members of the local have already embarked on one long-term project, collecting petition signatures to put a measure on Florida's 2000 ballot that, if approved, would allow physicians to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes--such as alleviating suffering in those with AIDs, glaucoma or undergoing chemotherapy. In the coming months, we hope to work more closely with local members of the Coalition Advocating Medicinal Marijuana, the group behind the ballot measure.
Organizing efforts in the Orlando area seem to be paying off as in the last few months several people have joined the party, providing a good base from which to build the local.
Finally, three members from the Tampa Bay local, M.P. Bigenhoe, Mark Allen and Fred Santiago-Colon met with members of the Orlando local to offer us encouragement and advice as we begin the task of creating a meaningful democratic socialist presence in Central Florida. We appreciate their comradely support.
A slightly different version of this report appeared in The Florida Socialist, the newsletter of the Socialist Party of Florida. [Back to Main Page]