JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is openly opposed to stinking up the state of Florida with adult-use marijuana.
Voters in Florida will have the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” to legalize adult-use marijuana in November. If at least 60% of voters approve the measure, it would open the recreational marijuana market to consumers. If approved, Florida would join 24 other states that have legalized recreational weed.
On Tuesday, DeSantis made some comments about legalization that News4JAX decided to fact-check.
First, what is the Canadian company DeSantis was talking about that’s pushing for recreational use?
“We have this constitutional amendment, three, that’s going to be on the ballot in November. And it is basically an attempt by a Canadian marijuana company to use the Florida constitution to give them an ability to have almost a monopoly on selling marijuana,” he said.
DeSantis is talking about Trulieve.
His statement is false. News4JAX talked to Trulieve’s CEO Kim Rivers. The Jacksonville native said she started in the Cannabis business in the Sunshine State and is growing here with 142 locations in Florida. Its corporate headquarters are in Quincy, Florida, but the company is incorporated in British Columbia and trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
“It also basically creates this really broad right to possess and smoke up to I think, I don’t know, some law enforcement have told me three ounces, how many joints is that? Some say 40. Some say 80. But bottom line, it’s a lot,“ DeSantis said.
This is true.
If Florida voters support Amendment 3, adults 21 and older could legally buy and use up to three ounces of pot for personal use in the state.
Trulieve currently sells pre-rolled joints for medical use at 1 gram each, so using this standard, legally, you could possess up to 85 joints at a time.
“There’s some people like business owners, some have said, ‘well, you know, I don’t really like it, but I’ll just tell people, you can’t do it in my restaurant or in my hotel.’ I don’t think it’s going to be that simple. I think this is written so broadly with no limitations, that people are going to assert the right to be able to do this, regardless of what a private property owner said,” DeSantis said.
RELATED: Jacksonville sheriff says legalizing recreational marijuana ‘could cause more issues’
This is false.
The language of the amendment explicitly states that the Florida Legislature retains the full ability to regulate the public use of marijuana.
The Legislature will have full authority to regulate or ban the use of marijuana in public places, the same one that it already exercises for tobacco and alcohol.
”In Colorado, they have the biggest black market they’ve ever had, California has a big black market. And so it’s actually led to way more drugs. It’s led to more dangerous drugs coming in,” DeSantis also said.
This statement is partially true.
Recent news reports indicate that Colorado and California are currently battling black-market marijuana sales after legalization. But there’s no evidence to suggest that legalization has led to “more dangerous drugs” coming into states where marijuana is legal.
Supporters of recreational marijuana argue that legalization allows for quality control and regulation, giving consumers access to safer products.
A recent Florida House of Representatives hearing revealed that approximately 90% of illicit marijuana confiscated by law enforcement and tested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tested positive for harmful chemicals or additives such as pesticides or other drugs like fentanyl.
Legalization would require third-party lab testing of all marijuana products sold in the state.
In the past, DeSantis has noted that he supported the implementation of medical marijuana use in the state when he became governor. In fact, it was the very first bill DeSantis signed into law as governor. He said the people of Florida have the medical marijuana option now and questioned if there needs to be more availability of the drug.