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The administration of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is using opioid settlement money to fund ads urging voters to reject a ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, according to a report from the Miami Herald. State records reveal that Florida Department of Children and Families spent $4 million last month to pay a marketing firm for an “advertising campaign aimed at educating Floridian families and youth about the dangers of marijuana, opioid, and drug use.”
The department did not answer questions from the Miami Herald about what is included in the advertising campaign. The news outlet reported that two advertisements have appeared in the state in recent weeks warning about the dangers of cannabis use by teenagers, including linking marijuana use to mental illnesses including schizophrenia. One of the ads maintained that the cannabis produced today is “engineered by corporations all for one purpose: to rewire the human mind.”
DeSantis Urging Voters To Reject Weed Legalization
The ads were aired as DeSantis was in the midst of a campaign urging Florida voters to vote no on Amendment 3, an initiative constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana that will appear on ballots for next week’s general election. The advertisements do not specifically mention the ballot measure, but supporters of Amendment 3 believe they are tied to DeSantis’ efforts to encourage voters to reject the proposal.
DeSantis has held two recent press conferences to campaign against Amendment 3, characterizing the pot legalization measure as “more liberal” than cannabis laws in states such as California and Colorado. At one press conference, a woman claimed her son died of an opioid overdose after initially beginning drug use with marijuana.
The governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, has also held several press conferences with law enforcement to campaign against Amendment 3. Additionally, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, the head of the state health department, used a television interview to warn about the dangers of cannabis.
The state has retained the services of Tallahassee-based marketing firm Strategic Digital Services to produce a campaign to warn Floridians of the dangers of cannabis and other drugs. A state database reveals that the state’s opioid settlement trust fund was used to pay a portion of the company’s fee.
Florida’s opioid settlement trust fund is set to receive approximately $3 billion from lawsuits against drug manufacturers and distributors for actions that contributed to the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic. The settlement agreement and state law require the funds to be used to “abate the opioid epidemic.” State-approved uses of the funding include a mention of “substance use disorders” in general, although a list of approved uses is focused on opioid use specifically.
The Miami Herald did not determine if the advertisements were produced under the contract with Strategic Digital Services. Both ads, however, were first aired after the contract was signed.
Amendment 3 Supporters React To Marketing Campaign
On Friday, a bipartisan group of Amendment 3 supporters held a news conference criticizing the DeSantis administration, saying it misused public money to campaign against the marijuana legalization amendment.
“At the end of the day, tax dollars should not go to fund propaganda, bottom line,” said Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters.
Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine, a member of a statewide council tasked with reviewing the effectiveness of the settlement trust fund, said the group has not discussed using the money for an anti-marijuana campaign. The Republican commissioner said that the use of marijuana is “clearly a different issue,” adding that it would be a “travesty” if money from the opioid settlement fund was used for the anti-cannabis ads.
Steve Reilly, the head of government relations at Insa, a multistate cannabis operator with medical marijuana operations in Florida, says in an email that “Governor DeSantis’ decision to fund his opposition to Amendment 3 through opioid settlement funds intended to benefit those with opioid addiction takes away necessary resources from a population most in need of assistance.”
“But this campaign is about the positive benefits that an adult cannabis market provides, including safely tested and regulated products, tax revenue, jobs, and the elimination of the illicit market,” Reilly adds. “We are hopeful that compassionate Floridians see through actions by our opponents such as this and will vote yes on amendment three on November 5 for the right reasons.”
Amendment 3 Legalizes Recreational Marijuana For Adults
If Florida voters approve Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment would allow the state’s current providers of medical marijuana, which was legalized in 2016, to begin selling cannabis to all adults aged 21 and up. Adults would be allowed to purchase up to three ounces of marijuana in one purchase, including no more than five grams of cannabis concentrates. The bill does not include provisions to expunge past cannabis convictions or to allow the home cultivation of marijuana, which activists feared would lead the Supreme Court to block the measure based on state laws that limit ballot initiatives to a single subject.
The proposed constitutional amendment also allows the Florida legislature to authorize additional adult-use cannabis business licenses, although there is no requirement for state lawmakers to do so. The initiative retains Florida’s current vertically integrated business structure, which requires operators to control the production and marketing of marijuana from seed to sale.
“}]] The administration of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is using opioid settlement money to fund ads urging voters to reject a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. Read More