Christine Jordan Sexton
A second statewide law enforcement group has come out against a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana for adults.
The Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) announced its opposition to Amendment 3 “Adult Use of Marijuana.”
“As we represent the highest levels of law enforcement leadership in Florida, we believe that passage of Constitutional Amendment 3 ‘Adult Use of Marijuana’ — otherwise known as recreational marijuana — will hurt public safety and ultimately cost Floridians tax dollars and lives,” said Chief Charles Vazquez, Tampa International Airport Police Department.
“Among these impacts will be the growth of illegal markets and criminal cartels, impaired driving and traffic fatalities, homelessness, and hospitalization as a result of marijuana use.”
Whether to make recreational use of marijuana for adults in Florida legal is one of the more high-profile constitutional amendments Florida voters will weigh in on when they head to the polls in November. In order to pass, 60% of the voters must approve the proposal.
Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana for adults.
The FPCA notes in the release that detailed data from all these states is not available, but the group cites published reports that it says shows “disturbing trends alongside broader law enforcement impacts.”
“Nationally, the percentage of traffic fatalities involving cannabis more than doubled from 9% in 2000 to 21.5% in 2018, and during 2018, 12 million (4.7%) U.S. residents reported driving under the influence of marijuana in the past 12 months,” the FPCA statement notes.
The FPCA’s announcement came on the heels of the Florida Sheriffs Association releasing its resolution spelling out the reasons why it opposes Amendment 3.
The resolution states that recreational marijuana is contrary to the “interest of the public health safety and welfare and desires to preserve the rights of citizens to live and work in a community where drug use is not normalized and citizens are not affected by the adverse effects of drug misuse.”
Signed by FSA President and Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper, the resolution notes that in 2020, 24.3% of drivers involved in traffic fatalities tested positive for marijuana, up from 14.8% in 2013.
The FSA is aligning efforts with the Republican Party of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis in opposing Amendment 3, which would allow for adult recreational use of marijuana. A committee, Vote No on 3, launched an effort to oppose the amendment.
Vote No on 3 did its own poll that found that 64% of likely General Election voters planned to vote “yes.” But that same poll indicated that opposition to the amendment is ticking upward and that support for the initiative is “stagnant” despite the recent ads.
Smart & Safe Florida is the committee pushing for passage of the amendment. Smart & Safe Florida’s largest contributor is Trulieve. The political committee has now raised $66.4 million since it started. The latest campaign report shows that Smart & Safe Florida has $12.5 million that it hasn’t spent yet.
9 comments
rbruce
July 30, 2024 at 5:29 pm
Instead of legalizing MJ, just create a policy of weak enforcement. It is rare for someone to go to jail for simple possession. Those who go to jail have worst drug charges downgraded or other charges dropped except for the MJ charges. Once legalized, MJ use will be rampant and unenforceable. Strict police actions on public use will be fought with the same arguments used now. I personally don’t care if someone wants to live in a MJ cloud at home, but keep it at home. I don’t want to smell it and I don’t want children to see adult inhale drugs just like I don’t want to see drunks in public.
Brian Kelly
July 31, 2024 at 6:14 am
Fear of Cannabis Legalization Nationwide is unfounded. Not based on any science or fact whatsoever. So please prohibitionists, we beg you to give your scare tactics, “Conspiracy Theories” and “Doomsday Scenarios” over the inevitable Legalization of Cannabis Nationwide a rest. Nobody is buying them anymore these days. Okay?
Furthermore, if all prohibitionists get when they look into that nice, big and shiny crystal ball of theirs, while wondering about the future of cannabis legalization, is horror, doom, and despair, well then I suggest they return that thing as quickly as possible and reclaim the money they shelled out for it, since it’s obviously defective.
Contrary to what prohibitionists are so desperately trying to get the public to believe wholeheartedly and without question, legalizing cannabis IS NOT adding anything new into our society that wasn’t always there and widely available already.
Therefore cannabis legalization does not lead to some massive influx of new cannabis consumers. The very same people who have been consuming cannabis during it’s prohibition are for the most part the very same ones who will be consuming cannabis when it’s legal.
The prohibition of cannabis has never prevented cannabis’s widespread availability nor anyone from consuming cannabis that truly desires to do so.
Cannabis has been ingrained within our society since the days of our founding fathers and part of human culture since biblical times, for thousands of years.
So, since cannabis has always been with us and humans already have thousands upon thousands of years worth of experience with cannabis, what great calamities and “Doomsday Scenarios” do prohibitionists really think will happen now due to current legalization efforts that have never ever happened before in all human history?
Legalize Nationwide Federally Now!
tom palmer
July 30, 2024 at 5:48 pm
yeah, it will reduce their arrest stats
Shelly Justice
July 30, 2024 at 5:56 pm
We have enough people with mental health issues….. children are growing up with parents with issues….How do we teach our children how to cope without Big Pharma, if parents are masking their issues?
Brian Kelly
July 31, 2024 at 6:15 am
Regarding “The Children”,
Let’s not use “The Children” as an excuse to prohibit and criminalize adult use of a natural plant far less dangerous than perfectly legal alcohol because nobody condones child use, and this is about allowing adults only to choose cannabis.
It’s our responsibility as parents by to educate our children on both alcohol and cannabis use. It’s not the government’s job to force Draconian cannabis Laws upon every adult citizen under the guise of protecting “The Children”.
What message are we sending our children when it is easier for them to obtain cannabis now with it being illegal than it is for them to buy alcohol?
It doesn’t take the intellect of a genius to understand that stores card kids for I.D. Thugs and gang members do not. They also push the real hard drugs on children. Stores do not.
Cannabis legalization will make it harder for children to obtain it.
What message does it send our children when several of the Presidents of The United States themselves alongside a long list of successful people openly admit regular pot use at one time or another in their lives?
While we tell our kids how it will ruin their futures, and then ensure so, by allowing our government to to jail our children and give them permanent criminal records when they get caught with a little cannabis. Especially, if they are the wrong skin color or from the “wrong neighborhood”. Which in turn, ruins their chances of employment for life.
The Prohibition of cannabis is the wrong message to send our children while we glorify, advertise and promote the much more dangerous use of alcohol like it’s an all American pastime.
The worst thing about cannabis and our children is what happens to them when they get caught up in the criminal justice system due to it’s prohibition.
Protect “The Children” and Our Neighborhoods Through The Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis Nationwide!
Brian Kelly
July 30, 2024 at 6:03 pm
Legalize federally now. What’s legal to possess and consume in over half of the populated areas of The United States should not make you a criminal in states still being governed by woefully ignorant prohibitionist politicians.
Cannabis consumers in all states deserve and demand equal rights and protections under our laws that are currently afforded to the drinkers of far more dangerous and deadly, yet perfectly legal, widely accepted, endlessly advertised and even glorified as an All-American pastime, alcohol.
Plain and simple!
Legalize Nationwide Federally Now!
It’s time for us, the majority of The People to take back control of our national cannabis policy. By voting OUT of office any and all politicians who very publicly and vocally admit to having an anti-cannabis, prohibitionist agenda! Time to vote’em all OUT of office. Period. Plain and simple.
Politicians who continue to demonize Cannabis, Corrupt Law Enforcement Officials who prefer to ruin peoples lives over Cannabis possession rather than solve real crimes who fund their departments toys and salaries with monies acquired through cannabis home raids, seizures and forfeitures, and so-called “Addiction Specialists” who make their income off of the judicial misfortunes of our citizens who choose cannabis, – Your actions go against The Will of The People and Your Days In Office Are Numbered! Find new careers before you don’t have one.
The People have spoken! Get on-board with Cannabis Legalization Nationwide, or be left behind and find new careers. Your choice.
ELVIS
July 30, 2024 at 6:16 pm
Good evening Sage Patriots & Dook 4 Brains Leftys,
Welp there you have the bottom line from those that know best, our Sage Police Chiefs. Now keep in mind many Police Chiefs are also Dook 4 Brains Leftys.
So thats it Florida , move your pot-head, Dook 4 Brains Leftist selves out to Colorado for all the weed you want.
ELVIS
Brian Kelly
July 31, 2024 at 6:19 am
What we certainly don’t need are anymore people who feel justified in appointing themselves to be self-deputized morality police.
We are very capable of choosing for ourselves if we want to consume cannabis, a far less dangerous choice over alcohol, and we definitely don’t need anyone dictating how we should live our own lives.
We can’t just lock up everyone who does things prohibitionists don’t personally approve of.
Name calling and stereotyping. It’s all that prohibitionists have left to offer society since virtually every piece of cannabis propaganda out there has been thoroughly debunked, and completely dismissed by a smarter than prohibitionists thought public.
Nobody can provide a real reason to continue the “War on Cannabis” because there isn’t one.
You know, a little live and let live goes a real long way towards ensuring a very long, stress and anger free life.
If somebody doesn’t approve of cannabis, then by all means, that person shouldn’t consume cannabis. Nobody is ever going to force anybody to consume cannabis that doesn’t desire to. Plain and simple. Problem solved.
Let’s allow other hard-working, tax paying adults to make their own choices about cannabis.
The government has no business attempting to legislate morality by creating victim-less cannabis “crimes” because it simply doesn’t work and has already cost the taxpayers a fortune.
Cannabis consumers in all states deserve and demand equal rights and protections under our laws that are currently afforded to the drinkers of far more dangerous and deadly, yet perfectly legal, widely accepted, endlessly advertised and even glorified as an All-American pastime, alcohol.
Plain and simple!
Legalize Nationwide Federally Now!
“Cannabis is 114 times safer than drinking alcohol”
“Cannabis may be even safer than previously thought, researchers say”
“Cannabis may be even safer than previously thought, researchers say New study: We should stop fighting Cannabis legalization and focus on alcohol and tobacco instead By Christopher Ingraham February 23
Compared with other recreational drugs — including alcohol — Cannabis may be even safer than previously thought. And researchers may be systematically underestimating risks associated with alcohol use.
Those are the top-line findings of recent research published in the journal Scientific Reports, a subsidiary of Nature. Researchers sought to quantify the risk of death associated with the use of a variety of commonly used substances. They found that at the level of individual use, alcohol was the deadliest substance, followed by heroin and cocaine.”
-Washington Post
“The report discovered that Cannabis is 114 times less deadly than alcohol. Researchers were able to determine this by comparing the lethal doses with the amount of typical use. Through this approach, Cannabis had the lowest mortality risk to users out of all the drugs they studied. In fact—because the numbers were crossed with typical daily use—Cannabis is the only drug that tested as “low risk.”
-Complex
LT
July 30, 2024 at 11:16 pm
What they are opposed to is that the county jails will no longer be full of people either convicted or waiting trial for possession. That’s less revenue for the county.
Comments are closed.