Florida Gov. DeSantis plans to help fight recreational marijuana ballot measure

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated he will take a pronounced role in helping to defeat the state’s November ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana.

“We’ll be getting involved in different ways on those initiatives,” he said Tuesday, referring to the adult-use measure and a separate initiative codifying abortion rights, according to Marijuana Moment.

DeSantis, who has called the marijuana initiative “radical” and predicted its failure on Election Day, also questioned the legitimacy of medical marijuana patients’ health claims while reverberating his gripes with cannabis smoke in public.

“Do you want to … not be able to take your family out to dinner because you’re worried about it?” he said.

“Understand, your life will be impacted by this. It will change the quality of life and our communities.

“You will smell it when you’re walking down a lot of these streets, particularly in our urban areas.”

If passed by 60% of voters in November, Amendment 3 would allow adult-use sales at existing medical marijuana treatment centers – licenses dominated by multistate operators.

The law would not necessarily create new licenses in the limited-license vertically integrated market, a shortcoming criticized by wide swaths of the marijuana industry and social equity advocates.

Polls have indicated mixed results for Amendment 3, though industry insiders believe the Florida measure will pass.