Jacob Ogles
Prosecutors may not crack down on marijuana possession like they did decades ago. But Leon State Attorney Jack Campbell said laws outlawing pot remain valuable to prosecutors dispensing justice.
The top prosecutor in Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit, Campbell has criticized a ballot measure that could legalize recreational weed in Florida. One of the most prominent Democrats in Florida opposed to Amendment 3, he said the criminal justice system can responsibly handle execution of Florida’s laws with discretion and should not lose a valuable tool.
“For many years now, certainly before medical marijuana, I think the state’s policies on marijuana have evolved, certainly, with this office,” Campbell said. “We’ve been doing diversion for many years, which results in a dismissal of charges. There’s been various forms of what’s often called civil-side, civil citation, but the prosecutorial discretion concerning marijuana has evolved over the last years.”
Prosecutors adjust constantly in applying the law as the Legislature makes changes. Campbell points to a change recently in application of laws around hemp and other related products. That has required differentiating between products like CBD and narcotics with higher THC levels.
He acknowledges that the approval of medical marijuana in a 2016 constitutional amendment marked a significant change in policy. But he said societal attitudes around cannabis use changed over time, and so has treatment of the substance by the criminal justice system.
“Probably in the ‘70s and ‘80s, you had the height of the Say No to Drugs campaign, and as cannabis has become more popular in society, we have kind of evolved as we’ve been dealing with other drugs,” he said. “Now having said that, there’s a lot of crimes that are marijuana-related that we see as a real problem.”
While even some law enforcement voices like Bradford County Sheriff Curtis Smith have said marijuana isn’t tied to as many crimes as legal alcohol and opioids, Campbell sees a connection between cannabis and other violent crimes. He sees murders, manslaughters, rapes and robberies that all stem from drug use, and marijuana remains by far the most common illegal drug being sold and moved in his district.
He notably represents a judicial circuit that covers both Tallahassee, the state’s capital and home to two majority state universities, and Gadsden County, where medical marijuana growers have become a major part of the agriculture economy.
He still sees a black market of marijuana, much of it laced with more life-threatening drugs like fentanyl. But the agency also sees plenty of traffic homicides where alcohol isn’t found in drivers’ possession, but marijuana can be found in the cars.
“I’m seeing violent crime tied to marijuana use on a regular basis,” Campbell said.
Moreover, he’s cautious about entering a world of navigating legal marijuana, something that has complicated the lives of prosecutors in other states. More than a century after the repeal of alcohol prohibition, traffic cops are all equipped with breathalyzers and agencies can easily test blood alcohol levels.
Amendment 3 would not legalize driving while high on weed, but there remain few tools for law enforcement to easily determine intoxication levels with smoked substances. Most tests for THC in the system show traces of the drug dating back for a month, well after a user feels the effects of smoking marijuana.
He also notes that strains of marijuana on the market today remain increasingly potent.
“It’s the difference between drinking beer, and drinking 151 whole grain alcohol. It’s a whole other order of magnitude,” Campbell said.
Of course, many proponents of legalization see an uncontrolled black market run by criminals as an argument for decriminalizing — and regulating — recreational pot. But Campbell said it’s naïve to think that allowing legal dispensaries to sell products will stop street dealers from shopping their own wares.
“Just like we dealt with 100 years ago, you didn’t immediately put all the bootleggers out of business,” Campbell said. “My drug dealers are not going to go away. They’re not going to say, ‘Okay, now that you legalized weed, I’m going to find a good, hard-working job.’ My people are going to go and sell to people who can’t get it legally, so people under 18 or 21.”
Amendment 3 would allow adults to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana, but only those 21 and older. Campbell worries a teen market will still rely on criminal enterprise, meaning customers who lack money or the ability to distinguish between safe and unsafe products.
And it will be harder to bust dealers. Right now, Campbell said police can take action against dealers based on “plain smell.”
“Once we have it legalized, I have that ability to kind of find out what’s going on eliminated because it’s legal, and I can’t sit there and do the search and seizure,” Campbell said, “and I can’t sit there and determine whether this is legal weed or illegal weed, which is where I think we’re going to head.”
9 comments
Brian Kelly
October 23, 2024 at 3:40 pm
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.
The prohibition of cannabis has not decreased the supply nor the demand for cannabis at all. Not one single iota, and it never will. Just a huge and complete waste of our tax dollars to continue criminalizing citizens for choosing a natural, non-toxic, relatively benign plant proven to be much safer than alcohol.
If prohibitionists are going to take it upon themselves to worry about “saving us all” from ourselves, then they need to start with the drug that causes more death and destruction than every other drug in the world COMBINED, which is alcohol!
Why do prohibitionists feel the continued need to vilify and demonize cannabis when they could more wisely focus their efforts on a real, proven killer, alcohol, which again causes more destruction, violence, and death than all other drugs, COMBINED?
Prohibitionists really should get their priorities straight and/or practice a little live and let live. They’ll live longer, happier, and healthier, with a lot less stress if they refrain from being bent on trying to control others through Draconian Cannabis Laws.
Brian Kelly
October 23, 2024 at 3:42 pm
Vote YES on 3!!! Because not voting at all or voting NO means that you irrationally prefer the continued complete prohibition of cannabis under which cannabis possession remains a serious crime. It means you prefer more cannabis arrests. Voting no or not voting at all means you want more of our fellow bothers and sisters with permanent criminal records over cannabis.
Cannabis consumers deserve and demand equal rights and protections under our laws that are currently afforded to the drinkers of far more harmful, dangerous and deadly, yet perfectly legal, widely accepted, endlessly advertised and even glorified as an All American pastime, alcohol.
Plain and simple!
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.
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Jason
October 24, 2024 at 9:42 am
If everyone in Florida is living in 500,000 dollar homes I think cannabis will not create a troublesome interference
Cindy
October 24, 2024 at 9:58 am
Unless they came down to beat the elderly on ss and knock them outside the financial boundaries..
But it looks like they can all live in 500,000 dollar living with a trillion in consumer spending
Cindy
October 24, 2024 at 10:03 am
And fascist is paying other countries 16 cents a month for Labor. Then paying themselves million’s
Tom Palmer
October 24, 2024 at 9:13 pm
really concerned about the home grown lies. Florida Legislature could fix this if they were competent.
Jason
October 24, 2024 at 9:32 pm
I guess Democrats are not worried about what made America a power House
I guess it is about your mental health.
Fred S
October 27, 2024 at 10:26 am
Go visit a state that has legalized pot and then tell me you enjoy walking around with your kids getting a contact buzz…. All the left wants to do is turn America into a Third World dump…
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