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Another pair of polls shows majority support for a Florida marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the November ballot\u2014but just one of them found there\u2019s enough support to meet the 60 percent threshold for passage under state law.<\/p>\n
A Suffolk University\/USA TODAY\/WSVN-TV Poll released on Tuesday showed 63 percent of likely voters back the cannabis measure, which is roughly consistent with other recent surveys.<\/p>\n
There was majority support across party lines, with 73 percent of Democrats, 69 percent of independents and 51 percent of Republicans in favor of the proposed reform. Each age demographic surveyed also agreed that the legalization initiative should be approved.<\/p>\n
The survey<\/a> involved interviews with 500 likely voters from August 7-11, with a 4.4 percentage point margin of error.<\/p>\n The other poll from Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research USA, meanwhile, puts support at 56 percent, falling short of what\u2019s be required to pass a constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n That survey<\/a> was based on interviews 1,055 registered voters from August 10-11, with a three percentage point margin or error.<\/p>\n In general, polls that look at likely voters tend to more accurately reflect the potential outcome in elections. Not all registered voters will make it to the ballot, so targeting a sample that\u2019s indicated intent to vote is considered more reliable.<\/p>\n Another recent survey also signaled that Amendment 3 does have enough support to pass<\/a>, with majority support across every demographic surveyed. Overall, 64 percent of voters said they backed the proposal, surpassing the 60 percent threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n One opposition campaign, Vote No On 3, also recently commissioned a poll on the measure that\u00a0similarly found 64 percent of voters in favor of the reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n These datapoints come in the background of warring campaigns for and against the initiative.<\/p>\n For example, the head of Florida\u2019s correctional department claimed in an op-ed on Monday that passing the marijuana legalization initiative would actually \u201cincrease\u201d the state\u2019s prison population<\/a>\u2014a paradoxical assertion that\u2019s being promoted by top staff of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).<\/p>\n Advocates and stakeholders are also awaiting a statement about the legalization measure from former President Donald Trump, a Florida resident who recently indicated he disagrees with criminalizing people over cannabis<\/a>\u00a0as more states enact legalization and who said he\u2019d be weighing in on Amendment 3 \u201cfairly soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally and GOP political operative, told Marijuana Moment on Monday that if the Republican nominee does ultimately endorse the initiative,\u00a0that would \u201cguarantee victory.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Notably, pro-legalization U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said this past week that\u00a0he intends to vote against the ballot initiative<\/a>, arguing that the reform should be enacted legislatively via statute and not as a constitutional amendment that would create barriers to adjusting the law down the road.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a hedge fund billionaire announced earlier this month that he\u2019s spending $20 million \u201cin support of candidates and to oppose Amendment 3.\u201d Of that, a\u00a0$12 million donation will go directly to the Vote No on 3 campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall, there\u2019s been a mixed bag of supports and opponents of the legalization measure. For example, a\u00a0Florida GOP senator recently endorsed the ballot initiative<\/a>, breaking with the state Republican party that he previously chaired.<\/p>\n The Florida Republican Party\u00a0officially came out against the marijuana initiative in May<\/a>, clearing the way for the governor to raise money to fund an opposition campaign against the measure.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the GOP state senator\u2019s endorsement of the legalization measure came one day after the\u00a0Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) and the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) both came out against Amendment 3<\/a>. They argued that the reform would cause increases in youth use, impaired driving, illicit operations and tax costs for residents, citing dubious evidence.<\/p>\n Last month, the\u00a0governor also lashed out against Amendment 3<\/a>\u00a0at the Republican National Convention, making hyperbolic claims about what the reform would allow\u2014claims backers say are \u201cabsolutely untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n DeSantis called the proposed constitutional amendment \u201climitless,\u201d arguing that it would establish a right to marijuana that would be more fundamental than First Amendment or Second Amendment protections for free speech and guns, respectively.<\/p>\n Speaking at a recent police event,\u00a0DeSantis falsely claimed that most Colorado voters \u201cregret\u201d approving marijuana legalization<\/a>. In fact, recent polling shows that the reform continues to enjoy strong support there.<\/p>\n Last month, news broke that DeSantis\u2019s so-called \u201cFlorida Freedom Fund\u201d received a $100,000 donation from the cannabis company group POB Ventures in order to help defeat the marijuana and abortion proposals. That amount was\u00a0nearly ten times what the campaign had raised in total at the beginning of July<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an\u00a0exclusive interview with Marijuana Moment<\/a>, the CEO of POB Ventures, Patrick O\u2019Brien, said he\u2019s not against adult-use cannabis legalization in principle\u2014but is instead troubled by the specific language of the ballot initiative because it provides an option, rather than a mandate, for regulators to approve additional licenses.<\/p>\n Suspicions about the motivations behind the contribution to DeSantis\u2019s PAC aren\u2019t likely to dissolve, especially amid new\u00a0reporting\u00a0from CBS News Miami that unnamed hemp businesses have joined forces to back DeSantis in his fight against the legalization measure, with a pledge to contribute $5 million collectively to the state Republican Party after the governor vetoed the bill that ostensibly would have wiped out the market by\u00a0banning most consumable cannabinoid products<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been previously reported that the governor is hoping to garner\u00a0support for his efforts to defeat the marijuana legalization initiative from the state\u2019s hemp industry<\/a>. DeSantis seemed to concede in June that his veto of a bill to ban most consumable hemp-derived cannabinoids was at least partly because\u00a0he hoped the market would aid in his anti-legalization campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n The DeSantis campaign committee, even with the recent contributions, is still miles behind the legalization campaign, Smart & Safe Florida, in terms of fundraising. The legalization effort has raised over $60 million since launching in late 2022.<\/p>\n DeSantis has been\u00a0railing against the marijuana measure for months<\/a>\u2014most recently arguing that it would protect the right to use cannabis more strongly than the First Amendment protects free speech or the Second Amendment protects gun rights\u2014and again claiming that the reform has been a \u201cfailed experiment\u201d in states such as Colorado.<\/p>\n The governor said that the proposal would allow people to \u201cdo marijuana wherever you want\u2014just smoke it, take it, and it would turn Florida into San Francisco or Chicago or some of these places.\u201d<\/p>\n He also reprised\u00a0one of his chief complaints about the potential impact of legalization<\/a>: smelling cannabis.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep our streets clean. We cannot have every town smelling like marijuana. We cannot have every hotel smelling\u2014theme parks,\u201d he said, adding that voters don\u2019t really understand the specifics of the legalization proposal and that ballot initiatives are generally \u201cso bogus.\u201d<\/p>\n DeSantis acknowledged that the state Supreme Court has a role in reviewing ballot language for constitutionality, and that a majority of justices determined that the marijuana measure met the legal standard. But while\u00a0he previously correctly predicted the court would approve the initiative<\/a>\u00a0following a challenge from state Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), he now says the two dissenting justices were \u201ccorrect\u201d in trying to block voters from deciding on the measure.<\/p>\n DeSantis also claimed in June that that if voters approve the marijuana legalization initiative,\u00a0people \u201cwill be able to bring 20 joints to an elementary school\u201d<\/a>\u2014and he again complained about the prevalent odor of cannabis that he says would result from the reform.<\/p>\n Legalization has \u201cnot worked in any single place,\u201d the governor said, and he\u00a0challenged a recent ad from the campaign that promoted<\/a>\u00a0regulating cannabis as an alternative to the status quo of people using untested cannabis from illicit sellers.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, according to a Fox News poll released in June,\u00a0two in three Florida voters support the cannabis initiative<\/a>\u2014with the issue proving more popular than the governor himself. The survey showed majority support for legalization across the political spectrum, too.<\/p>\n The governor has consistently argued that\u00a0the state shouldn\u2019t go beyond the existing medical cannabis program<\/a>\u00a0and that broader reform would negatively impact the quality of life for Floridians. The Florida Republican Party also\u00a0formally came out against Amendment 3 in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n Smart & Safe Florida separately announced in March that it was\u00a0working to form a coalition of veterans<\/a>\u00a0to build voter support for the reform, and the campaign\u00a0has since formally launched that initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Here\u2019s what the Smart & Safe Florida marijuana legalization initiative would accomplish:<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the full text of the ballot title and summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAllows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise; allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories. Applies to Florida law; does not change, or immunize violations of, federal law. Establishes possession limits for personal use. Allows consistent legislation. Defines terms. Provides effective date.\u201d<\/p>\n Economic analysts from the Florida legislature and DeSantis\u2019s office, estimate that the marijuana legalization initiative would\u00a0generate between $195.6 million and $431.3 million<\/a>\u00a0in new sales tax revenue annually if voters enact it. Those figures could increase considerably if lawmakers opted to impose an additional excise tax on cannabis transactions that\u2019s similar to the ones in place in other legalized states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Unlike the governor, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) said in April that\u00a0he does believe Florida voters will approve the legalization initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n GOP Senator Demands Answers On \u2018Rush\u2019 To Reschedule Marijuana From Top Biden Administration Officials<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Two New Polls Show Majority Support For Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative, But Only One Projects Passage<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Another pair of polls shows majority support for a Florida marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the November ballot\u2014but just one of them found there\u2019s enough support to meet the 60 percent threshold for passage under state law. A Suffolk University\/USA TODAY\/WSVN-TV Poll released on Tuesday showed 63 percentContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":77366,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77367,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77365\/revisions\/77367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Two New Polls Show Majority Support For Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative, But Only One Projects Passage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"