Florida Politics

DeSantis Says 'It's BS': Because Medical Marijuana is Being Abused, Why Legalize All Weed?

Share

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday questioned the need for legalized recreational marijuana when the state's medical weed program is already allegedly being taken advantage of.

At his newest campaign event against a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana, called Amendment 3, the Florida Governor pointed out that nearly a million Floridians already have medical marijuana cards—so why should the state widen that avenue?

"We have safe and regulated and legal marijuana under our medical program, and there's almost a million Floridians that have these marijuana cards," DeSantis said Wednesday, speaking at Tampa's Florida College—a liberal arts Christian university—at a roundtable-style event alongside the Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris and Sheriff Chris Nocca.

"I can guarantee you all those people do not have debilitating illnesses," he continued, eliciting a smirk from Sheriff Nocca and erupting laughter from the onlooking college students. "I mean, let's just be honest here. Are you kidding? I mean, are you honestly going to try to sit here and say this is hard to get as it is?

"There [are] marijuana stores everywhere—hundreds of these stores—throughout the state of Florida. So the idea that you don't have any legal marijuana in Florida is just not true," DeSantis added.

As of Oct. 25, 882,553 Floridians had an active medical marijuana ID card, which can be obtained through a physician's diagnosis, an application to the Department of Health, and a $75 fee. Trulieve—the largest donor for the Amendment 3 campaign, pumping in over $141 million of their $148 million war chest—accounts for 156 of the 691 marijuana dispensaries set up statewide.

The illnesses or diagnoses needed to qualify for a medical marijuana card are far-ranging, including everything from TMJ syndrome to trauma to anxiety to cancer.

Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 under then-Gov. Rick Scott guaranteeing access to medical marijuana for Floridians in need. In 2019, DeSantis signed a law synthesizing the amendment with Florida statute, pointing out that an overwhelming 70% of voters passed the amendment.

On Monday, he noted that he—not Scott—was the one to implement medical marijuana.

"It hadn’t really been implemented effectively or as it was intended by my predecessor, so I did it," DeSantis said, not saying Scott by name, who endorsed Trump over him in the 2024 presidential primary.

Amendment 3, which legalizes up to three ounces of recreational weed for adults 21 and over, has similar phrasing to the medical marijuana amendment and law, allowing the legislature to place various restrictions on its use if passed. Despite this, DeSantis has insisted that the amendment is "deceptive," would allow Trulieve to write themselves into the constitution with no options for liability, and is essentially a dud.

"You should never vote for an amendment if they're telling you, 'Oh yeah, it's flawed, it can be fixed by the legislature.' Why the hell didn't they write a good amendment to begin with then?" DeSantis asked. "Should you vote for something and then pray that the legislature's going to fix it? It's BS!"

This was DeSantis' eighth campaign event against either Amendment 3 or Amendment 4, which expands abortion access. He has another campaign event slotted for 1 p.m. today. His wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, had her fifth campaign event against Amendment 3 earlier today.

Liv Caputo

Livia Caputo is a senior at Florida State University, working on a major in Criminology, and a triple minor in Psychology, Communications, and German. She has been working on a journalism career for the past year, and hopes to become a successful reporter after graduation. Her work has been cited in Fox News, the New York Post, and the Daily Mail

Recent Posts

'We Don't Need Weed Money': FL Economy is too Good to Need Marijuana Industry, DeSantis Says

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday touted Florida's leading economy as a top reason why voters…

2 hours ago

Rubio Demands NIH Investigation After Dr. Delays Puberty Blockers Study

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has sent a letter to the National Institute of Health (NIH)…

6 hours ago

Miami-Dade Elections Department releases statement after early voting ballots fall of truck in the middle of the road

MIAMI - The Miami-Dade County Elections Department issued a statement Tuesday after a video showed…

6 hours ago

Rubio, Scott Try Again to 'Lock the Clock' on Daylight Saving Time

Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) are once again pushing for the Sunshine…

7 hours ago

Salazar Claims Democrat 'Meltdown' over Trump's MSG Rally Means 'They Know They are Going to Lose'

Former President Donald Trump held a massive rally in New York City's Madison Square Garden…

7 hours ago

Adding Some Starpower, DeSantis Ramps Up Campaign Against Ballot Amendments

The clock is ticking. In his seventh campaign-style event in two weeks, with seven days…

8 hours ago