Ron DeSantis, administration leaders urge votes to think of the children before legalizing pot

Ron DeSantis, Jeanette Nunez at a toundtable about Amendment 3. Image via Rumble.

Fears about child drug addiction and marketing of THC as candy dominated a roundtable on marijuana led by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

At an official event in Miami, DeSantis and members of his administration explicitly stoked fear about Amendment 3. If passed, the measure will legalize recreational pot in Florida.

“What’s happened in places like California is these companies create these marijuana gummies and like candy-type marijuana,” DeSantis said. “They package it in ways that are appealing to young people and to minors. Sour Patch Kids — oh no, it’s not Sour Patch Kids. It’s actually weed gummies.”

Campaign officials behind the Amendment 3 effort scoffed at the fear-mongering, saying DeSantis had pointed to illegal products pushed in other states.

“The candy packaging he was referencing is not sold on the legal marijuana market. It comes from the unregulated market,” said Morgan Hill, spokesperson for the Smart & Safe Florida campaign.

The comment wasn’t the only time members of DeSantis’ administration leveled accusations about the ramifications of legalizing marijuana. Shevaun Harris, Department of Children and Families Secretary, predicted an increase in addiction rates among children and growth in mental illness among youth.

“In states that legalize marijuana, they saw a 1,000% increase in children under the age of 6 hospitalized for THC poisoning because the edibles older adults around them were eating looked like candy,” Harris said.

She said 1 in 6 children who use marijuana will become addicted and be at increased risk of psychosis and depression.

Advocates of the measure said that’s not true.

“Teen use has gone down by 20% nationally since 2014 when the first states legalized recreational marijuana,” Hill said. “Amendment 3 is the only way to ensure restricted access and safety precautions in packaging and marketing.”

DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez took issue with campaigns saying legalizing marijuana was a matter of freedom.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Núñez said. “This is about one thing and one thing only. It’s corporate greed. In fact, to be honest with you, if they think it’s about freedom, I think they are actually high on their own supply, because there is nothing, nothing in this amendment that leads you to think that this is about freedom.”

Many comments were directed at Trulieve, with DeSantis inferring that Sheriffs who cut ads supporting Amendment 3 had a financial relationship with the medical marijuana company, the largest donor to the Smart & Safe Florida campaign.

“There aren’t very many law enforcement personnel in the entire state who are in favor of Amendment 3,” DeSantis said.

Smart & Safe Florida officials stressed that it’s up to state government how many companies can legally cultivate and sell marijuana if the measure passes.

“There are 25 companies that will be licensed to sell marijuana and another 22 on the Governor’s desk awaiting approval,” Hill said. “This won’t benefit one company, it will benefit all of Florida through safe access to lab-tested products and millions of dollars in new tax revenue for the state.”