As the Nov. 5 elections loom, the struggle between Floridians who want legal recreational cannabis enshrined in their constitution via Amendment 3 and those who don't has heated up to a near boiling point.
With the state’s GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis leading the anti-marijuana charge on the one side and several organizations like Smart & Safe Florida on the other, the manifestation of the hot debate has come down to nearly constant news coverage and paid TV ads.
Whether true, false or wildly exaggerated, the airwaves are full. And when talking about campaign coverage, we're talking money, and lots of it.
Smart & Safe has pulled in $148.77 million in cash and $953,000 in in-kind contributions as of this past Saturday making it the best-funded cannabis legalization initiative in US history.
Thanks to Trulieve Cannabis Corp. , which threw in another $28 million last week adding to its previous nearly $110 million, the well-healed pro-legalization campaign is far outspending its anti-marijuana opponents.
Though the DeSantis-led opposition has gathered far less in its quest to convince Floridians not legalize marijuana, he holds the being-in-power advantage and has begun to use it. Several times over the past several months the governor's anti-Amendment 3 campaign has dipped into public money to shore up its finances.
In one instance, the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) ran an ad warning against the dangers of driving under the influence of cannabis, saying. “DUI crashes increase in states with legalized marijuana, putting everyone at risk.” Another DOT-sponsored ad featured a local sheriff who equated cannabis with domestic abuse, an unproven assumption.
A more recent outcry over misused funds came last Friday when the Department of Children and Families spent $4 million of the state's opioid settlement trust fund, which is meant to “abate the opioid epidemic” and provide resources for affected communities.
As part of a media blitz around Florida involving press appearances and town halls, DeSantis even appealed to cannabis supporters on one occasion, reported Florida Phoenix, arguing that if the legalization initiative passes, it won’t help them, but instead would only boost the fortunes of one particular marijuana company. (Hint: Trulieve)
"If you're against marijuana use generally, this is an easy no, right?" the governor said Thursday at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral. "But even if you're somebody who is more open to it, this is the last way that you would want to go about doing it."
He said the amendment was written, "to benefit this one big weed company. It is not meant to benefit you. It is not meant to benefit the state."
Image Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Wurm