Robert Platshorn aka “Bobby Tuna” is one of the most notorious cannabis smugglers in history

quare Grouper: The
Godfathers of Ganja is a 2011
documentary that details the thrilling life and times of cannabis smugglers
operating throughout Miami, Florida during the 1970s. Amongst the dealers and
smugglers featured in the documentary is Robert Platshorn, a.k.a. “Bobby Tuna,”
a man responsible for transporting millions of dollars worth of contraband from
South America to South Florida using everything from yachts to DC-3 airliners
to do so.

Platshorn and a majority of
his business associates were eventually arrested in 1978 during a highly-publicized
series of raids as part of a joint FBI/DEA operation that targeted a majority
of the smugglers operating throughout South Florida. Demonized by the
authorities and media as “The Black Tuna Gang,” Platshorn and the rest of his
cohorts were declared to be the most sophisticated organized crime syndicate
the government had ever encountered, and were eventually found guilty. He was
sentenced to 64 years, the largest amount ever handed down for smuggling
cannabis.

28 years later Platshorn was
out of prison and author of The Black
Tuna Diaries, his own enlightening account of the time he spent as a
smuggler in South Florida and the subsequent, highly publicized, arrest and
trial. He’s also a cannabis legalization advocate, published author, director for
NORML and the lead spokesperson for “The Silver Tour,” dedicated to informing
older members of the voting public about how cannabis legalization can
positively affect them.

After Proposition 19 was
voted down in California back in 2010, Platshorn researched the facts to figure
out why. “I looked at the exit polls,” he says, “but despite all of the
bullshit about how the growers and dispensaries didn’t want it, it didn’t
matter, they didn’t vote.” Platshorn noticed that seniors voted 65 percent against
Proposition 19, mostly because of fear or misinformation. “There was only one
group talking to seniors and that was the beer lobby in California. They scared
seniors by saying there would be stoners and drunks on the road,” he says.

Platshorn’s background in
journalism prepared him for the first step, which was equipping his target
audience with the facts they needed to know about medicinal cannabis. “Most
seniors weren’t really talking about marijuana. They didn’t even know it was
good for Multiple Sclerosis or so much else, Platshorn said. He started his
tour out in Florida, but it wasn’t easy. “There wasn’t even a senior community
that would let me talk to them. I would call them up and offer to bring a
doctor or a nurse, but they just said no.”

After reading about how
doctors in Israel had studied the benefits of cannabis to the point that many
modern rabbis had declared the plant kosher for people of the Jewish faith,
Platshorn approached temples across the state to discuss it. ”Pretty soon I had
rabbis all over asking me to talk about my message. Many of the temples I spoke
to have a lot of seniors. Those shows cost me $1,500-$2,000 to put on, but we
are a 501c3, tax exempt.” He’s quick to point out that his work is entirely
free of charge. “I’ve never made a penny.”

Seniors were also interested
in cannabis is because it is an affordable alternative to mainstream
pharmaceuticals. “When they found out that they didn’t need Ambien or Lunesta,
and that they could smoke cannabis instead, this really surprised them.” The
people Platshorn speaks to are also interested in how cannabis can be used to
treat other mental disorders.  “They are terrified of Alzheimer’s,” he
says. “I’ve got a lot of calls from senior communities about that.”

www.mmjconference.com

www.thesilvertour.org

www.magpictures.com/squaregrouper

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www.blacktunadiaries.com