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MARIJUANA MOMENT
DESANTIS AGAIN RIPS INTO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, WARNING NOVEMBER BALLOT MEASURE
WOULD BE ‘NOT GOOD FOR FAMILIES’
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Posts, But Questions On Psychedelics And Other Drugs Remain
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Smoke Weed’ For $70,420 Salary
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Lawmaker Hitting A Joint At 4:20
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Record High
* The Legal Marijuana Industry Now Supports More Than 440,000 Full-Time
Jobs, Up 5% From Last Year, Report Finds
* Missouri Warns Marijuana License Applicants Of ‘Predatory Practices’
Around Social Equity Status
* Missouri Marijuana Worker Union Dispute Could Have Major Implications For
National Labor Law
* New Mexico Retailers Set A New Marijuana Sales Record In March
* Video
* DeSantis Again Rips Into Marijuana Legalization, Warning November Ballot
Measure Would Be ‘Not Good For Families’
* Senator Presses Attorney General Garland On Marijuana Banking Bill’s
Impact On Criminal Investigations
* Schumer And Other Democrats Amplify Calls For Marijuana Reform Ahead Of
4/20, Which Congressman Says Should Be Celebrated ‘Every Day’
* Marijuana-Focused Political Party Pushes Back On Democrats’ Challenge To
Its Major Party Status In Supreme Court Arguments
* Congressional Lawmakers Approve GOP-Led Marijuana And Psychedelics Bills
Focused On Veterans
* Newsletter
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* White House cannabis rescheduling update (Newsletter: April 16, 2024)
* DOJ investigating cannabis companies over COVID loans (Newsletter: April
15, 2024)
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12, 2024)
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POLITICS
DESANTIS AGAIN RIPS INTO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, WARNING NOVEMBER BALLOT MEASURE
WOULD BE ‘NOT GOOD FOR FAMILIES’
Published
3 seconds ago
on
April 17, 2024
By
Ben Adlin
With a legalization ballot measure set to appear on Florida’s ballot in
November, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) again attacked the proposal on Wednesday,
warning that the changes would be “not good for families” and “not good for
[the] elderly.”
He also accused the initiative’s cannabis industry backers as being
profit-driven. “People aren’t putting tens of millions of dollars behind that
out of the goodness of their heart,” the governor said. “They are going to be
making a lot of money if that amendment passes, so you’d be making some
companies very, very rich.”
DeSantis has previously predicted voters will reject the marijuana initiative in
November and argued that passage would “reduce the quality of life” in the
state.
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Speaking at an event on Wednesday, DeSantis urged voters to reject ballot
initiatives that might seem vague or confusing—including the cannabis measure.
“The marijuana one is written so broadly, you are not going to be able to
restrict where people use it,” DeSantis said, repeating a claim that the
legalization campaign has said is untrue. “Understand: Your life will be
impacted by this. It will change the quality of life and our communities. You
will smell it when you’re walking down a lot of these streets, particularly in
our urban areas.”
Watch DeSantis’s marijuana comments, around 41:30 into the video below:
DeSantis further claimed that there could be someone “by an elementary school,
just sitting there toking up.”
Smart and Safe Florida, the campaign behind the ballot measure, has previously
said that its proposal gives state lawmakers “the authority to limit outdoor and
public consumption just like the FL does for smoking tobacco products.”
“You know, I have credibility on this,” DeSantis said at Wednesday’s event,
“because I implemented the medical marijuana amendment. It had not really been
implemented even though it had passed previously. I did it. I implemented it.”
He then immediately disparaged the program.
“There are people that have these cards,” DeSantis said. “You know some of them
do not have really, truly debilitating—we know how that works. That is what’s
happened.”
“I did that,” he repeated. “I see the stores in all parts of the state. Do we
really need to have, like, 10 times more of that than we do? No, we don’t.”
Floridians would need to pass the medical marijuana industry-backed legalization
initiative with at least 60 percent of the vote for it to become law. New
polling released by USA Today/Ipsos this week suggests that might be a tall
order, however: The survey found that 56 percent of Florida registered voters
and 49 percent of Florida adults overall back the cannabis measure.
Economic analysts from the Florida legislature and DeSantis’s office, estimate
that the marijuana legalization initiative would generate between $195.6 million
and $431.3 million in new sales tax revenue annually if voters enact it. Those
figures could increase considerably if lawmakers opted to impose an additional
excise tax on cannabis transactions that’s similar to the ones in place in other
legalized states.
If approved, the measure would change the state Constitution to allow existing
medical cannabis companies in the state, such as Trulieve, the campaign’s main
financial contributor, to begin selling marijuana to all adults over 21. It
contains a provision that would allow—but not require—lawmakers to take steps
toward the approval of additional businesses. Home cultivation by consumers
would not be allowed under the proposal as drafted.
Adults would be able to purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, only
five grams of which could be marijuana concentrate products. The three-page
measure also omits equity provisions favored by advocates, such as expungements
or other relief for people with prior cannabis convictions.
Nearly all of the campaign’s financial backing has come from existing medical
marijuana businesses, predominantly multi-state operators. Last week, the
Florida Division of Elections (DOE) released the campaign finance activity
report from the first quarter of the year, showing nearly $15 million in new
contributions.
Trulieve, the main financial backer of the initiative, led the pack again with
$9.225 million in donations during the first quarter. That follows the company
previously contributing about $40 million as advocates worked to collect more
than one million signatures to qualify for ballot placement.
As noted by the outlet Florida Politics, which first reported DeSantis’s
comments on Wednesday, the governor himself received a $25,000 campaign donation
from Trulieve back in November 2020.
The company’s CEO said recently that, contrary to the governor’s claims,
legalization could actually “improve quality of life” for residents.
Here’s what the Smart & Safe Florida marijuana legalization initiative would
accomplish:
* Adults 21 and older could purchase and possess up to three ounces of cannabis
for personal use. The cap for marijuana concentrates would be five grams.
* Medical cannabis dispensaries could “acquire, cultivate, process,
manufacture, sell, and distribute marijuana products and marijuana
accessories to adults for personal use.”
* The legislature would be authorized—but not required—to approve additional
entities that are not currently licensed cannabis dispensaries.
* The initiative specifies that nothing in the proposal prevents the
legislature from “enacting laws that are consistent with this amendment.”
* The amendment further clarifies that nothing about the proposal “changes
federal law,” which seems to be an effort to avoid past legal challenges
about misleading ballot language.
* There are no provisions for home cultivation, expungement of prior records or
social equity.
* The measure would take effect six months following approval by voters.
Here’s the full text of the ballot title and summary:
“Allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products
and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking,
ingestion, or otherwise; allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other
state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and
distribute such products and accessories. Applies to Florida law; does not
change, or immunize violations of, federal law. Establishes possession limits
for personal use. Allows consistent legislation. Defines terms. Provides
effective date.”
The Smart and Safe Florida campaign is soliciting veterans in an effort to build
voter support for the reform, saying in an email update that the “goal is to
raise awareness among voters about the importance of cannabis as a safer
alternative to synthetic opioids for treating PTSD and related conditions among
veterans.” Organizers are “looking to engage with veterans across the state of
Florida to support our cause.”
Despite his opposition to the initiative, DeSantis, the former GOP presidential
candidate who dropped out of the race in January, previously
accurately predicted that the state’s highest court would ultimately allow the
measure on November’s ballot.
DeSantis also weighed in on another relevant cannabis policy issue earlier this
year when, while still a presidential candidate, he said that he doesn’t believe
the federal gun ban for state-legal marijuana consumers is constitutional.
Florida’s former agriculture commission, Nikki Fried, brought a lawsuit against
the Biden administration over the rule, though the governor did not get
involved.
Prior to dropping out, DeSantis also said that if elected president, he
would “respect the decisions that states make” on marijuana legalization despite
his personal view that the reform has a “negative impact.”
> Coalition Of Justice Groups Pushes Biden To Support Marijuana Legalization
> Instead Of Schedule III Move
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Ben Adlin
Ben Adlin, a senior editor at Marijuana Moment, has been covering cannabis and
other drug policy issues professionally since 2011. He was previously a senior
news editor at Leafly, an associate editor at the Los Angeles Daily Journal and
a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. He lives in Washington State.
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