Jacob Ogles
Sen. Joe Gruters may favor legalizing marijuana, but he doesn’t want stoners lighting up outside.
The Sarasota Republican unveiled legislation he intends to file next year that would outlaw smoking of any sort in public places. He said such regulation will be appropriate if Florida voters approve Amendment 3, a measure he has endorsed that would allow adult use of cannabis recreationally.
“It’s time to decriminalize and I think we can control the time, place and manner,” he said. “That last bit is where this bill comes into play. I think Florida does not want to be like Las Vegas or New York.”
At a virtual press conference, Gruters said he will file legislation expanding outdoor restrictions on all smoking, including vaping and marijuana use. The state Senator previously championed legislation signed in 2022 that allows local governments to regulate smoking on beaches and in parks.
Gruters worked on a beach smoking ban for over five years during his time in the House, and later in the Senate. He said giving the right to cities and counties to ban beach smoking was the best he could achieve at the time. But he believes the potential legalizing of recreational marijuana is a perfect chance to revisit the issue.
The press conference also included Sen. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat who plans to co-sponsor the bill, and Rep. Chip LaMarca, a Lighthouse Point Republican who carried the House version of Gruters’ beach smoking bill.
“For me, it’s not about the passage or the failure of Amendment 3. It’s about the guardrails,” said Rouson. “It’s about enjoying the public places like parks, like beaches, like other public places where folks don’t want to walk into smoke.”
LaMarca stressed an environmental aspect to regulating where people smoke any type of product.
“I want to make sure that we keep our pristine environment and people can go enjoy themselves at sidewalk cafes, beaches, parks and, quite honestly, their own neighborhoods,” he said.
As drafted, Gruters’ bill would prohibit smoking in all areas open to the public, including private property like lobbies, retail stores and restaurants. But he stressed that the bill was a starting point in the legislative process.
Notably, neither Rouson nor LaMarca has taken a public position on the amendment legalizing recreational marijuana. But Gruters said the measure is definitely a driving factor in him revising regulations for smoking.
He faced resistance to his legislation regarding cigarettes on beaches, including from the cigar industry, a reason why the state law passed specifically exempts that product.
Gruters, the former Republican Party of Florida Chair and Florida’s current Republican National Committeeman surprised many when he publicly endorsed the marijuana amendment, putting him at odds with Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state party. That prompted conversations with the Governor and other party leaders.
The majority who objected to his position, Gruters said, raised concerns about the perpetual odor of marijuana smoke in some parts of the country that already legalized recreational cannabis.
Gruters believes his bill addresses that concern. He modeled it off of a statute in place in Arizona, a state that banned public smoking at the same time it legalized weed.
“I’m not a big fan of smoking of any kind anywhere,” he said. “I think it infringes on my quiet enjoyment of when I’m out in the public.”
21 comments
Michael S
August 15, 2024 at 2:26 pm
To quote Bobby Duvall, “I love the smell of ganga in the morning.”
Brian Kelly
August 15, 2024 at 2:54 pm
Oh please! Senator us Senator “Nimby Karen” Gruters! Lol. So dumb and self-entitled! Odor isn’t a crime and should never become crime either!
Odor also is is never a valid, reasonable, rational justification to keep anything illegal and to continue criminalizing and handing out life long permanent criminal records to American citizens. We can’t just arrest, lock up and hand out life long permanent criminal records to anyone who, heaven forbid, dares to make you temporarily smell things that you aren’t fond of smelling for a few brief seconds while you pass by in public places. Sound fair and reasonable?
Believe it or not, millions of Floridians have always used cannabis way before we ever considered legalization. Legalization is not adding anything new into our public places that wasn’t always there before. For the most part its the very same people who have been using cannabis while it was illegal that will be using cannabis when it’s legal.
To suggest that all of a sudden due to legalization that the scent of cannabis will be everywhere public is ludicrous, irrational, and rediculious! Get real, cut the bs and stop the silly smell exaggerations and lies. Admit that the only real issue you have with cannabis legalization is your very own unjustifiable irrational personal moral issue with allowing other adult American citizens to legally enjoy cannabis without constant threat of lifelong criminalization, prosecution and persecution. 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.
Marie
August 19, 2024 at 6:32 pm
Beautifully said, well done! 👍
Michael A Shlasko
August 28, 2024 at 3:22 am
Well said!
Jerome Baker
August 15, 2024 at 6:57 pm
I should be able to grow my own weed and smoke it wherever I please politicians need to shove off.
Gen zzzz
August 15, 2024 at 10:24 pm
All right now we’re talking! To each their own inside their own property. Do whatever you like. But if you think you have the right to impose your bad decisions and cancer on others in public then maybe others have the right to return that double, with impunity. Since people have no respect for others and can’t be civilized and considerate, not to mention the disgusting litter and car crashes and child abuse, this needs to pass as a bar minimum. And minimum 10 year sentences with hard labor for all DWI’s. Then you’ll see car insurance rates go down. Pass it!
Steven Bowen
August 16, 2024 at 8:05 am
I cannot stand politicians who push legislation based on their personal preferences, and politicians who continues to pick on smokers by constantly raising taxes on cigarettes and treating smokers like second class citizens. Banning smoking in “all public spaces” is some communist level garbage.
Florida is a state that still stands for personal freedom and we need to keep it that way.
Dont Say FLA
August 16, 2024 at 9:01 am
As long as Mr Joe isn’t just picking on weed and he stands up to big tobacco too, banning smoking of cigarettes cigars and vapes in public, then I’m on board. But LOLs, ain’t no way. NO way.
Gen zzzz
August 16, 2024 at 8:39 pm
Right! This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of cancer stickers in public which second hand is worse than first hand. No one is talking about what anyone does in private or which does not affect others or what they put in their bodies which does not blow out in plumes and affect others (unless they DWI). But when you’re blowing cancer in other people’s faces including children and your own children, yeah, that’s a problem just like firing a water gun filled with toxic sludge at someone would be a problem. You’re violating other people’s rights to breathe clean air and not get sick like asthma and cancer. It’s not at all the same as soda or fast food or whatever. Smoke is its own issue and it’s well past time we deal with it in public places. Not to mention the toxic litter it spreads. And yeah I’m also on board for going back to enforcing strict emissions standards too because Florida used to do it and it wasn’t a problem. It’s 2024, we know these are well documented public health hazards that cause problems and death, just like leaded gasoline. It is not just about “personal freedoms”. What you do inside your own property is your own business. That’s personal freedom. When you go out in public and cause injury to others, that’s not “personal freedom” anymore than reckless or drunk driving is “personal freedom”. There are safety standards for a reason. The rest of the world has moved on this. Since the attitudes posted on this site seem to have no concept of care and concern for others, it only underscores the need to have to make it law. If people didn’t insist on acting like @$$ h@t$ then maybe it wouldn’t be necessary.
Dont Say FLA
August 17, 2024 at 10:31 am
Reverend! Preach IT! 😀
John Donson
August 16, 2024 at 9:02 am
Would “no abortions in public places” work for Joe, too?
Dont Say FLA
August 17, 2024 at 10:33 am
Great idea! Decisions should be left to women and their partners in bed and medicine, but abortion procedures should be allowed only indoors. Ban outdoor abortions only.
FLPatriot
August 16, 2024 at 10:15 am
Wait! DuhSantis is telling everyone that there is no way to ever regulate the smoking of weed in public. Is he a liar?
Brian Kelly
August 16, 2024 at 10:23 am
*Sniff* *Sniff* “HEY YOU! Aren’t you the nasty dude that passed that smelly fart off in front of me earlier while I was walking back to my car in the Taco Bell parking lot?” “Quick, somebody call the cops and have this dude ARRESTED!”
Or: Sniff Sniff “HEY YOU! Aren’t you that disgusting neighbor of mine that forces me to smell your stinky, gross ethnic food permeating the air every single time I stick my humongous nosey-snout inside of your kitchen window”? “Quickly officers, please respond to this address ASAP and ARREST this guy for forcing me to smell his foul smelling ethnic food and help me, please! Because my amazingly powerful big nosey-snout is still stuck under this guy’s window too!” “Thank you for responding so quickly officers. This MAJOR crime/offense needs to PERMANENTLY STAY on his record, forever and he should be denied employment opportunities, government assistance benefits and child custody because of this MAJOR crime/offense. How DARE him!!! To make me temporarily smell odors I am not fond of smelling while I am out in public! (And Yes, I was still technically out in public when I had my humongous nosey-snout stuck in my neighbors window…) Next time he commits another serious crime like this one, GIVE’EM LIFE BEHIND BARS OR THE DEATH PENALTY!”
Dont Say FLA
August 17, 2024 at 10:35 am
The worst smells are the fat white guys who bring three Baconators back to the office, through the office leaving a trail of stank, to the dining room or their desk, it makes no difference, stinking the place up for hours.
J P
August 16, 2024 at 3:29 pm
So why hasn’t he tackled diesel exhaust yet?
Michael S
August 17, 2024 at 11:23 am
And the totally inconsiderate office workers who cook fish and popcorn in the office microwave.
Marie Stone
August 19, 2024 at 7:27 pm
This ban on the beaches! Lord have mercy! I have lived here for 45 years and love going to see the ocean! I pick up dirty diapers, soda cans, food wrappers and anything and everything I see littered by others on the sand. My cigarette butts go into an empty water bottle that gets thrown in the trash before I leave! I pay over 100.00 now for a carton of cigs and wonder where the tax money is truly going! If politicians are allowed to place stipulations on us because of smell or anything else that will follow, then smokers and non smokers need to wake up to the endless possibilities of what else they can loose!!
Cindy
August 22, 2024 at 7:54 pm
It is not about the pot.. it is about the cash flow for the business. Keep the brainers coming and spending it all. Meanwhile we use pharma with problems of contamination. Ruin your kidney’s. And play ckd.
Delusions
August 25, 2024 at 12:32 pm
Stuff has an obnoxious odor
Anthony
August 27, 2024 at 11:21 am
Not too sure about this subject. I think its respectfully not to blow it in peoples area but I also kind of like the smell. Just dont think it is ok with children around.
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