In a new TV advertisement, the campaign against an amendment that would legalize recreational marijuana has taken up a novel criticism of the initiative: it doesn't let Floridians grow weed at home.
First propagated by Gov. Ron DeSantis' senior analyst Christina Pushaw on social media, the new angle blasts the citizen-led referendum, called Amendment 3, for caving into "Big Weed" and not permitting Floridians to home grow their marijuana.
The 30-second ad from No on 3 begins with a man watching TV in his living room, where a news anchor can be heard off-camera saying, "Amendment 3 could legalize recreational marijuana."
The man smiles.
He leaps up, rushes to an outdoor shed, unboxes plans for his "dream garden", and gets ready to pot some pot. Until that is, a man representing "Big Weed" appears, clutching a green Amendment 3 sign.
"What do you think you're doing?" Big Weed asks.
"I'm getting ready to grow my weed!" the would-be gardener grins. "Amendment 3 is on the ballot."
"We wrote Amendment 3, so we're the only ones that can grow it," Big Weed replies, lazily fanning himself with his Amendment 3 sign. He tells the gardener that he can't grow "one plant", making him realize: "Amendment 3 is not about freedom—I vote no!"
As the credits roll, Big Weed chuckles to himself, smirking, "Big Weed, baby, we control everything."
So…does everyone now support homegrown weed?
The answer? Unclear.
Sen. Joe Gruters, one of the sole Florida Republicans in support of the Amendment, told The Floridian that he is in favor of home grown weed, and thinks that "we can include it in the implementing bill."
"The question is, will the governor and my colleagues support it? Once they stop using it as a way to try to defeat the Amendment—will they support it?" he questioned.
In response, Sarah Bascom, the spokesperson for the No on 3 campaign, told The Floridian that their campaign exists solely to defeat Amendment 3, not to "speculate on hypothetical Amendments that might be put on the ballot in the future after it's rejected."
"The authors of this amendment intentionally wrote it to not allow for home grow so that Floridians would be forced to buy it from the companies who sell it," she said. "They are now throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks by saying the legislature can fix their massively flawed amendment - despite the governor and key legislative leaders saying doing so is unconstitutional.
"Their own admission of the amendment’s flaws is why it will be voted down," Bascom added.
Floridians will have the option to vote on Amendment 3 in November. If passed by at least 60% of the electorate (a tough challenge, a new poll revealed), adults 21 and over can possess, buy, or use up to three ounces of marijuana. It also provides for the Legislature to pass various laws regulating its implementation.
In opposition, DeSantis and other Republicans first insisted that the Amendment would make the state "stink," then they argued it allowed Trulieve—a huge financial backer for the Amendment—to write their own "weed cartel" into the constitution, and now, they claim it prevents Floridians from homegrown weed.
It's a far cry from the Reagan era's decades-long War on Drugs, signified by hardline conservative policies and an all-around anti-drug stance.
"So here’s the thing: Amendment 3 would create a monopoly on recreational,” Christina Pushaw wrote on X in August. “It also doesn’t allow home growing. Why is it that other states that have passed recreational marijuana also allow individuals to home grow, but Florida’s Amendment 3 specifically does NOT? It’s not about ‘freedom,’ it’s corporate greed.”
Her comments were soon echoed by the Governor, who seemingly advocated for laws allowing people to grow weed at home. Eleven states—including the Governor's oft-maligned states of Colorado and California—allow citizens to grow their own recreational marijuana.
“Instead of putting a big weed cartel in the Constitution, instead of telling people you can buy it from them and then you’re fine, but then it can be used in public, I would do the opposite,” DeSantis said a few months ago. “I think it’s much more reasonable to say, you know, people want to grow in their backyard…That’s fine; just don’t bring it out in public.”
