Governor Ron De Santis (R) has delivered another blow to the cannabis legalization amendment that Floridians will vote on in the November 2024 election. This time, he’s going after those who he says will smoke weed near K-12 schools.
“So someone walking past an elementary school and sitting there smoking is somehow okay?” DeSantis told reporters Wednesday at an event in Miami. “How is this good for the state of Florida?”
The proposal, known as Amendment 3, was recently approved by the Florida Supreme Court to advance to the November ballot. The amendment, organized by Smart and safe Floridain fact, it gives legislators the authority to “restrict public and outdoor consumption” just as the state does for public tobacco use.
“This amendment is the broadest amendment yet and I think it will basically green light marijuana use in all these different parts of the state where we don’t want that to happen,” he said, Florida Politics reported. “This is not good for families, so this is not good for seniors.”
And then he attacked cannabis companies that support Amendment 3, all of whom were at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference a few miles away in Hollywood, Florida, as he spoke.
“People are not putting tens of millions of dollars into this out of the goodness of their hearts,” DeSantis said. “They will make a lot of money if the amendment passes, so some companies could become very, very rich.”
Although he didn’t mention them by name, it’s no secret that other cannabis companies, as well as Believe me Cannabis Corp TCNNF – have also come together to support the initiative to the tune of at least $15 million, so far. The companies now involved in financing the proposal include Summer Holdings Corp VRNOF, Curaleaf Companies Inc CURLY, AYR Wellbeing Inc AYRWF, Cresco Labs Inc. CRLBF, Green thumb industries Inc GTBIF AND INSA, Inc.
Photo: Benzinga modified from Wikimedia Commons images