By The News Service of Florida
Mothers, law-enforcement officers and veterans are among people included in a new $5 million statewide ad campaign aimed at boosting support for a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida, supporters of the measure announced Tuesday. Four ads will run on broadcast, cable, streaming, radio and digital platforms, according to the Smart & Safe Florida political committee, which has led efforts to pass what will appear as Amendment 3 on the November ballot.
The ads say, in part, that regulated recreational marijuana is a better alternative to cannabis products sold on the black market. “A yes vote on Amendment 3 will improve the health and safety of Floridians. Access to regulated adult-use marijuana would help prevent illicit cartel-trafficked marijuana from making its way into Florida, as well as allow law enforcement to focus on violent crime,” a news release from the committee said.
The Florida Supreme Court on April 1 approved allowing the proposed constitutional amendment to go before voters. Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana company, had contributed nearly $50 million to the effort as of March 31, according to the latest campaign-finance reports posted on the state Division of Elections website.
Other Florida medical-marijuana companies also have started supporting the proposal. In March, Verano Holdings Corp., which operates as MÜV in Florida, contributed a total of $2.225 million, Curaleaf Inc. contributed $2 million, AYR Wellness Inc. and Green Thumb Industries each contributed $500,000, and Cresco Labs contributed $400,000. As of March 31, the political committee had raised nearly $55 million since the launch of the campaign in 2022, and had spent $40.6 million.
Florida voters in 2016 approved a constitutional amendment that broadly allowed medical marijuana. Changes to the state Constitution require 60 percent approval from voters to pass.
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There could be a bright side. It may reduce the tacky ads by John Morgan and family. He financed and promoted the legalization of pot a few years ago. If lots of people now switch from alcohol to pot, he might have a smaller audience to pander to. It might be a conflict of interest to solicit people who were supposedly injured by drivers who drove while high on a substance he advocated for.
Unfortunately, in law enforcement we have seen that even with the medical marijuana, people always go with the cheaper option of buying off the streets. This causes gun violence and raises safety concerns. So making it legal does not fix any problems. Stick with what you have and let it continue to be abused, but at least LEO have authority over the criminal element that way.
As a person who has family members who used “recreational” pot as teenagers, my wife and I will vote NO.
Why? Four male cousins all now aged 60 to 70. One died of a drug overdose after living sober for a year. He had spent time in local (caught driving with MJ), state (dealing MJ) and federal (killed a dealer) prisons on drug related charges. He also was paranoid and depressed. One goes to AA meetings at least once a day to remain sober. One kicked out of military for drug abuse, divorced twice, in drug rehab for a year before getting sober. The last of the four is suffering paranoia (everybody is against him) and beginning a new career at 60.
IF pot was illegal and teens and preteens in the 70s were able to easily obtain as much as they wanted, do you think making pot legal for anyone 21 and over will in any way be beneficial to society AND not become more available to teens?
BTW, the pot of today has been cultivated (bred) to be many times more powerful than it was when these four first started using pot as a gateway drug!
Do Florida families a favor and vote NO on two amendments which adversely affect children’s lives! One maims their lives, the other stops their life!
Medical Use Only. I am even thinking possibly that those using it for Medical a lot should have to give up the Drivers License but, still on the fence.
Yes, to decriminalization and medical use… NO to recreational use.
Unless of course you don’t mind your bus drivers, pilots, nurses, Uber drivers, day care workers, teachers, restaurant servers, food preparers, car mechanics, cashiers, and lots of drivers around you… to name just a few… STONED throughout their day.
Add to that a significant increase in vehicle crash and pedestrian deaths as well. Things California, Oregon, Colorado, and the Media PACs won’t tell you about.
NOOOOOOO. Florida Does Not want to become the next California, Oregon, or Colorado.