In tandem with the Presidential election, Floridians are about to vote on Amendment 3, a ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana for all adults. Fascinatingly, Florida is already the country’s largest medical-only market, with 831,000 doctor-approved patients spending more than $2 billion annually. As a result, legalizing marijuana fully would open sales to the Sunshine State’s 140 million annual visitors.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have openly spoken about their support of the Amendment, making it a practically non-partisan issue. The potential financial boon this could provide to the cannabis industry has many in the area incredibly excited about the immediate future. Tallahassee-based Trulieve, one of the country’s largest pot companies (which has over 150 dispensaries in Florida alone), has put more than $140 million into pro-Amendment 3 marketing in the hopes that those funds will be recouped several times over if and when the amendment is passed. Trulieve’s efforts account for more than 90% of the total contributions put into marketing for Amendment 3.
Similarly to the state’s upcoming vote on Amendment 4, which decides whether to protect the right to abortion until fetal viability, Amendment 3 is going to require 60% support from the Floridian public in order to pass. And one would think it should be a simple victory; legalization has never been more popular. A year ago, a Gallup survey found that 70% of Americans support it. The issue was still slightly biased towards more liberal voters, with 87% of Democrats supporting the issue and only 55% of Republicans supporting it, but it’s critical to note that even that support has more than doubled since 2001.
Almost no one protests pot shops. And yet, Florida governor and former attempted presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has been starkly against its passing for reasons that have been difficult to decipher.
Reluctance among some voters in the state may be due to controversy over whether the amendment is too friendly to Trulieve and other big companies in terms of how it would shape the state’s market. Leading the opposition to what he refers to as the “big weed cartel” is Ron DeSantis. DeSantis’ pitch is seemingly that the Amendment is too lenient and could allow the state’s legislature to be taken advantage of.
Now, due largely to DeSantis’ opposition, Amendment 3 has split Florida Republicans. Longtime legalization supporter Rep. Matt Gaetz has sided with DeSantis—he says it shouldn’t be resolved in the state constitution—but Donald Trump endorsed the measure soon after a reported meeting with Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers.
DeSantis’ position was tenable, if not especially principled. Quite a few 420-averse politicians of both parties have managed to convey their views without anchoring themselves to an apparent losing position.
But instead of voicing his opposition to Amendment 3 and getting out of the way, DeSantis is holding press conferences and spending taxpayer money on opposition ads. Over the past 10 years, as recreational state markets expanded from one (beginning with Colorado) to 24, no elected official has expended as much political capital against the plant’s ineffable progress. Whatever the virtues of the anti–Amendment 3 argument, DeSantis’ political brand and history with the industry makes him a particularly poor messenger.
Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, has endorsed Amendment 3 while calling for a legislative overhaul that would allow more companies into the market. “This is about freedom,” she said. “This is about opportunity to make sure that we go back to the libertarian state that we always have been.
Brady Cobb, the CEO of Ft. Lauderdale–based Sunburn Cannabis and a politically plugged-in registered Republican, didn’t expect DeSantis to oppose full legalization.
