is a vocal opponent of medical marijuana. On 26 April 2016, he pledged to begin a fundraising drive to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment in Florida that would legalize medical marijuana. Orlando attorney and major democratic donor John Morgan challenged Sembler through Twitter to match his own $7 million contribution in support of the amendment, calling Sembler "Mel the Moocher." Financial career Sembler has served on the Board of Directors of several banks, including the First Bank of Treasure Island, the National Bank, First Union Bank, and presently serves on the Board of Directors of American Momentum Bank. He founded the Sembler Company, a shopping center development and management firm, and served as the spokesman for the shopping career industry as the 1986-1987 President of the International Council of Shopping Centers, where he served for 25 years. The Sembler Company came to the attention of federal investigators in 2008 after a planned shopping center in Boynton Beach, Florida, that had previously been denied a zoning variance, was suddenly approved after a payment of $100,000 had been made to lobbyist Hugo Unruh. Unruh's name had previously "popped up" in a corruption investigation that led to the conviction of two Palm Beach county commissioners in 2006. Diplomatic career In February 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed Sembler United States Ambassador to Australia and Nauru, where he served for three and a half years. On August 23, 1989, cartoonist Garry Trudeau published a Doonesbury comic strip which seemed to imply that Sembler had purchased the ambassadorship. It has been pointed out that Sembler had no previous diplomatic experience and had donated $100,000 to the presidential campaign of George H. W. Bush shortly before his appointment. During his tenure as ambassador, however, his performance "won favorable reviews and quieted his critics". At the recommendation of the Governor-General of Australia and with the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, Sembler was named an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia at an investiture ceremony in October 2000, recognising achievement or meritorious service to Australia or humanity at large. Sembler was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Italy by President George W. Bush, being sworn in on 16 November 2001. In February 2005 Sembler had an annex to the U.S. Embassy in Rome named after him (the Mel Sembler Building), an honour never before bestowed on a sitting diplomat, and made possible due to an amendment by Congressman