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DESANTIS IGNORES FACTS ON WEED LEGALIZATION REFERENDUM | MIAMI HERALD

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OPINION AND COMMENTARY

Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to
our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters.

Editorials


STINKY FLORIDA? DESANTIS PAINTS SCARY PICTURE OF WEED AMENDMENT BUT MISSES KEY
POINT | OPINION

By the Miami Herald Editorial Board
April 23, 2024 5:00 AM

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said that Amendment 3 to legalize recreational
pot would allow people to smoke in public. Pedro Portal

Gov. Ron DeSantis is appealing to voters’ fears of streets and businesses being
overcome by the stench of pot smoke if a proposed Florida constitutional
amendment is approved this fall.

It’s classical DeSantis: Amp up mental images of children under threat, choking
on second-hand smoke — except he fails to mention that he and lawmakers have the
power to pass laws to prevent that, even if the measure passes.

DeSantis has, on more than one occasion, claimed that if voters pass Amendment 3
to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, the state will turn
into some kind of stoner’s paradise where people would be allowed to smoke
anywhere they want, including in public.

Click to resize

Speaking of other states that have legalized weed, he said last month, “I’ve
gone to some of these cities that have had this everywhere. It smells, there’s
all these things.”

During a stop in Hialeah Gardens last week, he said Amendment 3 will hurt
Floridians’ quality of life — “You will smell it when you’re walking down a lot
of these streets.”

“I don’t want to be able to go walk in front of shops and have this. I don’t
want every hotel to really smell,” DeSantis said at a March news conference. “I
don’t want all these things. But if you’re saying you can’t regulate it or you
can’t limit it — which, that’s how I read that — that could be a big, big
problem.”



DeSantis could address his presumed concerns through regulation; it’s what
Florida already does when it comes to cigarette and alcohol usage. If voters
pass Amendment 3, the Legislature could enact laws to ban marijuana from public
places like parks or schools. The text of the amendment states: “Nothing in this
amendment prohibits the Legislature from enacting laws that are consistent with
this amendment.”

“... the Governor is mistaken about what the amendment does,” lawyers Glenn
Burhans and John Bash wrote in a March Tampa Bay Times op-ed. Both represented
the amendment sponsors before the Florida Supreme Court, which approved the
ballot language of Amendment 3 last month.

“If voters approve the amendment, the Legislature will have full authority to
regulate or ban the use of marijuana in public places — authority that it
already exercises for tobacco and alcohol,” Burhans and Bash wrote.

Is the governor truly mistaken or misrepresenting the measure?



If at least 60% of voters approved Amendment 3, it will be up to lawmakers — and
DeSantis — to pass and sign so-called implementing bills to create licensing
requirements for the production, distribution and sale of marijuana as well as
rules on the time, place and manner of marijuana use, Steve Vancore, spokesman
for Smart & Safe Florida, which sponsored the measure, told the Herald Editorial
Board.

“We would strongly support that,” Vancore said. “We don’t want Florida to become
the stinky state.”

Indeed, Florida already prohibits the use of medical marijuana, approved by
voters in 2016, in public places. South Florida college campuses also ban it,
along with other types of smoking and vaping, the Herald reported. When it comes
to tobacco smoking, that’s prohibited in most public and private places,
including restaurants, under Florida law.

Lawmakers could — and should — extend those same restrictions to recreational
marijuana. Marijuana smoke is an obnoxious nuisance and people shouldn’t pay for
others’ pot use through second-hand smoke. Neither should families be afraid to
take their children to a school or park.



Floridians might have different reasons for supporting or opposing Amendment 3.
Learning that the state has the ability to impose restrictions on where people
can smoke might not be enough to alleviate the fear that smokers will violate
those laws if they are not properly enforced. In the end, some voters might feel
that the cons of pot legalization outweigh the pros.

These are legitimate concerns, not based on a skies-are-falling scenario painted
by a governor with a penchant for hyperbole.




Send a letter to the editor to heralded@miamiherald.com


Click here to send the letter.


BEHIND OUR REPORTING


WHAT'S AN EDITORIAL?

Editorials are opinion pieces that reflect the views of the Miami Herald
Editorial Board, a group of opinion journalists that operates separately from
the Miami Herald newsroom. Miami Herald Editorial Board members are: opinion
editor Amy Driscoll and editorial writers Luisa Yanez and Isadora Rangel. Read
more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.


WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN OP-ED AND A COLUMN?

Op-Eds, short for “opposite the editorial page,” are opinion pieces written by
contributors who are not affiliated with our Editorial Board.

Columns are recurring opinion pieces that represent the views of staff
columnists that regularly appear on the op-ed page.


HOW DOES THE MIAMI HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD DECIDE WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT?

The Editorial Board, made up of experienced opinion journalists, primarily
addresses local and state issues that affect South Florida residents. Each board
member has an area of focus, such as education, COVID or local government
policy. Board members meet daily and bring up an array of topics for discussion.
Once a topic is fully discussed, board members will further report the issue,
interviewing stakeholders and others involved and affected, so that the board
can present the most informed opinion possible. We strive to provide our
community with thought leadership that advocates for policies and priorities
that strengthen our communities. Our editorials promote social justice, fairness
in economic, educational and social opportunities and an end to systemic racism
and inequality. The Editorial Board is separate from the reporters and editors
of the Miami Herald newsroom.


HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE TO THE MIAMI HERALD OPINION SECTION?

The Editorial Board accepts op-ed submissions of 650-700 words from community
members who want to argue a specific viewpoint or idea that is relevant to our
area. You can email an op-ed submission to oped@miamiherald.com. We also accept
150-word letters to the editor from readers who want to offer their points of
view on current issues. For more information on how to submit a letter, go here.




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