Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday claimed that if a new marijuana amendment passes in November, the measure would legally protect a weed-carrying truck heading to a dispensary if it runs over a child.
He blasted the initiative, called Amendment 3, at a Cape Coral press conference as a monopolized "weed cartel" that would allow the company Trulieve, who is behind the amendment, to have a "cloak of protection from any accountability."
"If they produce defective weed and you have a seizure, are you going to be able to sue them? Not according to this, this says no liability," Gov. DeSantis said. "If they've got weed in one of their trucks and they're bringing it to a dispensary and they run over some kid, is the family going to be able to sue them? Not according to this, this is blanket immunity language."
He referred to a section in the Amendment that says that state licensed dispensaries, including their workers, who "act in accordance" with the law in terms of acquiring, growing, and selling marijuana "shall not be subject to criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida law."
DeSantis' allegations that this "blanket immunity" would allow a lawless Trulieve to "forever change the culture of Florida," were lambasted by Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, one of the few pro-Amendment 3 Republicans in the state Legislature.
"That’s a blatant misunderstanding of the law. That has to do with federal laws that exist...it's already in the [state] law," Gruters, a former Chair of the state GOP, told The Floridian. "It does not prevent a company from being held accountable for any civil liability.
"This is why people hate politics," added Gruters, who came under fire from DeSantis' team after he announced his support for recreational marijuana. He pointed out that Florida's medical marijuana law, signed and endorsed by DeSantis in 2019, has near identical language alleging that medicinal use and "actions and conduct" by a medical facility are not subject to sanctions or legal liabilities.
Democrat Sen. Shevrin Jones, an Amendment 3 proponent, echoed Gruters to The Floridian, writing in a text message, "Governor DeSantis is an attorney from a very esteemed institution, so he knows that’s not what that means. I’m not even an attorney, yet I recognize that his statement is filled with untruths.
"These are the same old deceitful tactics to confuse Florida voters," said Jones, the Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee.
Trulieve is Florida's largest medical marijuana company and the largest backer for the Smart & Safe Florida campaign, who helped get Amendment 3 on the November ballot. Since the state Supreme Court on Apr. 1 ruled that the Amendment could go to voters after a failed challenge by DeSantis, Smart & Safe has raised over $56.7 million.
Trulieve is responsible for $53.8 million of that figure. Overall, since 2022, Trulieve has contributed over $92 million to Smart & Safe's war chest of over $100 million.
Last month, they filed a defamation lawsuit against the Republican Party of Florida and two media outlets for what they claimed to be "intentionally deceptive" advertisements accusing the marijuana giant of a "power grab" to "enshrine their monopoly." Interestingly similar, the Department of Health earlier this month sent cease-and-desist letters to TV stations running pro-abortion ads they claimed to be false. When a suit was filed against them for First Amendment infringements, the Court (temporarily) sided with the plaintiffs.
"The Supreme Court of Florida should have never approved this ballot summary," DeSantis said. "It doesn't tell you what's in the amendment. It was a huge, huge mistake. They didn't do their job, and so now we're having to really work just to educate people."
This is DeSantis' first anti-Amendment 3 press conference, though his wife, Casey DeSantis, has already completed two while the Florida Governor hosted three anti-Amendment 4 events to dissuade voters against the pro-abortion measure overturning his six-week ban.
The election is Nov. 5.
