TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – For the second time in two months, a new poll shows two-thirds of likely voters agree with legalizing marijuana in Florida.
The poll of 800 registered likely voters shows 67% supporting legal marijuana for adults. Of those surveyed, 29% were opposed.
A petition effort was filed on Friday to bring the question to the 2020 ballot.
Jeff Sharkey with the Florida Medical Marijuana Business Association cautioned that the campaign has yet to begin.
“It will be interesting to see where public safety, sheriffs, police really come out on this,” Sharkey said. "When that starts to happen and any other real opposition, you may see some softening in that 67%.”
The poll also tested three likely arguments against legalization. All three increased the likelihood of a "no" vote. One of them could be Josephine Krehl, a cannabis advocate.
“I don’t see a way for people to grow their own plants,” Krehl said.
The poll was backed by Med Men. It holds a Florida grow license and operates in six other states.
On the campaign trail and again since taking office, Gov. Ron DeSantis has openly opposed legal marijuana.
In Tampa on Monday, DeSantis said he would carry out the will of the voters, but he still opposes the idea.
“You look at Colorado, it’s been a really mixed verdict with how its worked with workforce and some of the youth there, so we’ll see what happens,” said DeSantis.
Jeff Sharkey says legalization would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue.
“You’re talking about a six billion dollar market for sales,” Sharkey said.
The campaign has until February to gather about one million petitions.