Recreational pot campaign seeks to clear the air of misinformation

Bills to cap pot potency were stamped out. Image via AP.

With the General Election a week away, proponents of a recreational pot amendment hope to smoke out any misinformation surrounding the measure.

Smart & Safe Florida’s latest ad, entitled “Tallahassee Politicians,” directly confronts claims made in ads criticizing the ballot measure.

“Tallahassee politicians are lying about Amendment 3 and spending $50 million of your tax dollars to fool you,” a narrator states. “The truth? Amendment 3 will legalize safe, regulated marijuana for adults to use in the privacy of their own homes and stop needless arrests by decriminalizing personal amounts of marijuana while generating billions for our schools and police.”

The ad directly references images from a Vote No on 3 campaign, specifically “Not Even One,” that implies passage of Amendment 3 would prohibit home-grown marijuana.

The proposed constitutional amendment doesn’t touch on regulation of who or how marijuana can be grown if the measure is passed. Florida law created around medical marijuana prohibits home-grown marijuana, but that was based on regulations conceived by the Legislature.

“It is disappointing that some politicians are deliberately misleading Floridians about Amendment 3,” said Morgan Hill, spokesperson for Smart & Safe Florida, “but even more so that they are using taxpayer money meant for opioid recovery and other public services to do it.”

That’s a reference to a controversial expenditure of state money on public service announcements specifically attacking Amendment 3, a publicly funded operation that includes 13,000 TV ads and 5,000 radio ads, as well as streaming, digital and billboard promotion. The ads were produced by several agencies working under Gov. Ron DeSantis, a vocal opponent of Amendment 3.

State purchase orders suggest those ads are being funded in part from $18 million set aside from the Opioid Settlement Trust Fund for a drug prevention media campaign.

The new Smart & Safe ad notes that many independent fact checkers have slammed claims against Amendment 3 that were false, including insinuation that the amendment would prohibit home-grown cannabis.

“Amendment 3 is a common-sense policy that will benefit all Floridians and open the door for the State Legislature to introduce further regulations including for home grow and public smoking bans,” Hill added.

In order for Amendment 3 to pass, 60% of voters weighing in on the measure must vote “yes.”