Florida vote on recreational marijuana pits hope for economic boom against fear of monopoly - UPI.com (2024)

Horticulturist Justin Sheffield inspects a freshly cut cannabis flower in a grow room at the Beleaf Medical Growing Facility in Earth City, Mo., on Feb. 7, 2023. Florida has a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would legalize recreational use of marijuana by adults 21 and older. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Amendment Three allows adults 21 years old and older to possess, purchase and use marijuana products recreationally. It allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers and other vendors licensed by the state to grow, acquire, manufacture and sell products and accessories and establishes possession limits for personal use.

"A vote for Amendment Three is a vote for safety, transparency and economic opportunity in the state of Florida," Morgan Hill, spokesperson for Smart & Safe Florida, told UPI. "A regulated market would give adult Floridians the same individual freedom to choose to consume marijuana that half of Americans already enjoy. It would also ensure Floridians have access to safe, tested products."

Smart & Safe Florida is the political action committee supporting the measure.

Constitutional amendments require a 60% vote in favor to pass. The existing statutory framework for medical marijuana use would be repealed and replaced no later than six months after the effective date. In that time the state legislature would be tasked with determining how entities that are not Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers may acquire licensing.

Hill said the legalization of recreational marijuana is projected to generate about $431 million in new tax revenue annually.

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Colorado and Washington were the first to do so in 2012.

Florida legalized medical marijuana in 2016.

"The people of Florida have been waiting for this for a long time," Johnny Bachanov, founder and CEO of Appspensary, told UPI. "We've been watching these other states get legalized and it's been great for those states. We'd like to reap those benefits. People are tired of going to jail for pot."

Under Amendment Three, an individual would be allowed to possess no more than 3 ounces or about 8.5 grams of marijuana for personal use. The limit on marijuana concentrate would be 5 grams.

Of the roughly 87,000 people incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections, 37 were convicted with a primary offense related to possessing marijuana. All possessed more than 20 grams.

In Florida, possessing 20 grams of marijuana or less is a misdemeanor. Any amount larger than this is subject to charges related to drug trafficking, according to the department of corrections. Sentences may be enhanced based on criminal history.

Bachanov believes that legalizing recreational marijuana creates a legal alternative to opioids and alcohol, addictions that have had a great effect on Floridians.

"All those prescription pills, it was a little crazy in the early 2000s. They're still reeling from the effects of that," he said. "The people of Florida are sick and tired of it. They're tired of seeing family members crushed from it. On cannabis, you can be a great family member, a great dad. You can do things using cannabis you can't do using opiates."

There is a lot of public support behind Amendment Three. It needed 891,523 valid signatures to get on the ballot. It received more than 1 million valid signatures.

Smart & Safe Florida has spent an estimated $72 million on the campaign to urge voters to vote "Yes" on Amendment Three, according to the Florida division of elections. Its biggest campaign contributor, Trulieve, has given the PAC about $72 million.

Trulieve is Florida's largest medical-marijuana operator. It is also a multi-state operator.

Trulieve's involvement and history of lobbying is one of the main reasons Michael Thompson, founder of Dank of Ganja, opposes the amendment. Dank of Ganja is a family-owned business based in Tampa, Fla., specializing in products derived from hemp.

Trulieve, along with other medical marijuana companies like Curaleaf and MuV, lobbied in favor of SB 1698 -- a bill that would have made many hemp and cannabis products illegal -- earlier in the year.

SB 1698 was vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after passing the Florida Senate and House.

Hemp products were federally regulated in the Farm Bill of 2018, removing its classification as a controlled substance.

"We have 10,000 mom-and-pop businesses selling products right now that would be out of business if the governor signed that legislation," Thompson told UPI. "A tiger doesn't really change its stripes. We shouldn't trust this company. We would have been behind this 100%. They tried to criminalize federally legal products."

Thompson is concerned that the corporations that have lobbied for this amendment will have a leg up on the competition if Amendment Three passes. Meanwhile, recreational marijuana users could still face citation or arrest if they possess a product that is not from a state-licensed producer. While he refrained from saying this will create a monopoly, he said it would grant "monopolistic privileges" to a handful of companies.

Chris Williams, founder of Sunshine Cannabis, told UPI that the amendment allows more flexibility for expanding licensing than opponents say. Sunshine Cannabis is a licensed partner with Trulieve.

"I believe it was written with the intention of horizontal licensing, which is what everybody wants so small businesses can get a license," Williams said. "It's potentially wide open, depending on the way the legislature implements it."

Amendment Three shields physicians, Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers and other licensed entities from criminal and civil liability under state law. Thompson said this would shield corporations like Trulieve from legal recourse if contaminated products are sold on the market.

"This is arguably the worst legalization ballot initiative in U.S. history," he said. "If history is any indication, what happens when you limit economic freedom and mobility, it just hurts people. This is a terrible way to legalize. This is like handing the keys to the cannabis kingdom to R.J. Reynolds or Philip Morris."

Like Thompson, My Florida Green founder and CEO Nick Garulay told UPI that he does not oppose recreational marijuana legalization. But he believes Amendment Three could create an anti-competitive marketplace.

My Florida Green is a patient management platform that helps patients and doctors get medical marijuana certification.

Part of Garulay's issue with Amendment Three stems from Florida's vertical integration requirement. It requires that the same company must grow, process and distribute its cannabis products to be eligible to receive licensing.

"This is an attempt to take over the entire state of Florida with a corporate takeover," Garulay said. "We're essentially empowering a corporate cartel. It's very similar to big pharma, big tobacco and big alcohol."

Garulay added that Florida is not ready for the legalization of recreational marijuana due to a high demand and lack of supply. He warns it will negatively affect medical marijuana patients, some of whom need it for debilitating conditions.

Garulay has been working in the medical marijuana field since it was legalized in 2016.

"In the first six to eight months you're going to have a drainage of supply," he warned. "Patients won't be able to access it. You've got people that are going to die. People that are going to go back on opioids and benzodiazepines. It's very hard to watch."