Jacob Ogles
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.”
9 comments
Vote Yes On 3
November 4, 2024 at 2:10 pm
Vote Yes on 3 Florida, this is not a red or blue issue this is a GREEN issue about FREEDOM. Communists historically have favored prohibition, let’s not let Florida go that direction – if we are going to really be the FREE STATE of Florida let’s stop arresting people for a plant. This will create tens of thousands of new jobs and bring in hundreds of millions in tax revenue to further strengthen the economy of Florida. Make sure you get out and VOTE #YESON3 no matter which party you favor. Kamala and Trump both are in support of Legalization. #LegalizeIt
The Blue Wave makes landfall Tuesday!
November 4, 2024 at 11:31 pm
Since when have you cared about Florida’s kids Rhonda? This is the free state of Florida so let’s get rid of the GOP stronghold! The blue wave makes landfall tomorrow so don’t get crushed!
Brian Kelly
November 4, 2024 at 2:29 pm
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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 out fellow brothers and sisters with permanent criminal records over cannabis.
Brian Kelly
November 4, 2024 at 2:30 pm
Vote YES! and you will also be saying Very Loud and Clear: “No!!!” More Prohibition “NO!!!” More Arrests! “No!!!” More Criminalizing Floridians and Handing Out Life-Long Permanent Criminal Records Over Cannabis Possession!
Tjb
November 4, 2024 at 4:44 pm
Did anyone tell DeSantis that the children are buying pot from their friends or at schools.
Using his logic, perhaps we should ban guns so are children will not shot each other.
MarvinM
November 4, 2024 at 9:04 pm
Not to mention his words are really extremely very anti-free market. I thought Republicans were all for the free market.
Michael K
November 4, 2024 at 5:34 pm
If Ron cared about kids, he would expand Medicaid. He’s a holdout. Along Mississippi in a race to the bottom.
Vote YES on 3 and 4 and mind your own business.
Vote NO on all the others because they do not have the rigor of citizen review.
MarvinM
November 4, 2024 at 10:14 pm
YES on 3 and 4, the only initiatives that were put on the ballot by us, the citizens.
Vote NO on 1, 2, 5 and 6.
If you want any of those four, just call your state legislator and ask for it. They have the power to pass it legislatively.
I am at a loss to understand why they felt they needed to use the constitutional amendment process to enact what they could have done legislatively.
One might think they are scared of actually responding to the will of the people .
Speaking of which, if you are voting YES on 4, don’t forget the two FL Supreme Court judges up for retention who voted to keep Amendment 4 off the ballot. For no apparent legal reason, just seems like they didn’t like it. They did not seem to like the idea of allowing Floridians to actually cast a vote in favor of (or against) some measure. They just don’t want us to have a say!
YES on 3 and 4.
NO on Francis and Sasso.
Dont Say FLA
November 6, 2024 at 7:34 am
After kiddie bedtime In lots of reasonable places, lots of folks use a little weed to alleviate the stress of a day of dealing with their bratty kid(s). There’s even weed theme parenting magazines. But OMG it’s so scary if we legalize weed, high people will start eating the DOGS
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