The main backer of a marijuana legalization initiative on Florida\u2019s ballot next month has filed a defamation suit against the state\u2019s Republican Party, alleging it knowingly deceived voters about the proposed constitutional change known as Amendment 3.<\/p>\n
Trulieve, Florida\u2019s largest medical marijuana operator, which has contributed more than $90 million to the adult-use campaign, says the GOP has run an \u201cintentionally deceptive campaign\u201d with \u201cdemonstrably false\u201d claims that are \u201ctrying to fool Florida voters\u201d into opposing the adult-use reform.<\/p>\n
The suit, the company says in the filing, is an effort to \u201cset the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe GOP knew that the claims in the deceptive mailer and ad were false, intentionally deceptive, and duplicitous,\u201d says the complaint, filed on Wednesday in the state\u2019s Second Judicial Circuit Court, \u201cbut published them anyway in order to trick Florida voters into voting against a ballot initiative that would legalize the recreational use of cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit also lists as defendants two Florida TV stations, which the company alleges aired the \u201cfalse and misleading\u201d ads.<\/p>\n
Central to the allegations is a TV spot from Amendment 3 opponents, which the company says implies that only large corporations, like Trulieve, would benefit under the proposal. Some have criticized the plan, saying it would create a \u201cmonopoly\u201d with limited licenses and a prohibition on home cultivation for personal use.<\/p>\n
Trulieve\u2019s lawsuit says that\u2019s untrue, because state lawmakers would have the authority to issue more licenses if the measure becomes law. And it notes that Florida already prohibits home cultivation of cannabis\u2014a matter the constitutional amendment simply doesn\u2019t touch.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmendment 3 cannot prohibit something that is already prohibited,\u201d the complaint says, \u201cand the plain text of Amendment 3 says nothing about the home cultivation of cannabis and does not change the current state of the law with respect to that issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another ad targeted by the suit is a campaign mailer by the Republican Party of Florida. It called Amendment 3 \u201ca power grab by mega marijuana corporations, eliminating their competition and enshrining their monopoly advantage in the Constitution forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, Trulieve says that\u2019s false because the legislature could issue additional licenses, increasing competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than eliminating competition, the ballot initiative would increase competition by allowing the state to authorize additional licenses to grow and sell cannabis,\u201d the suit contends.<\/p>\n
Voting by mail in Florida has already begun for the November 5 election.<\/p>\n
A representative for Trulieve did not immediately respond to Marijuana Moment\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n
Trulieve filed the following cease-and-desist letters sent to the TV stations demanding that they pull the offending ad, according to the Tampa Free Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n In response to the suit, chair of the Florida Republican Party, Evan Power, chided Trulieve on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is so funny that a company that puts almost $100 million into a political campaign is so sensitive about honest TV ads,\u201d Power said in a text message to the Miami Herald<\/a>, the paper reported Wednesday. \u201cThe proponents of Amendment 3 are trying to take down these ads that they know are truthful and are working. That is why they are using lawfare to try to silence us, but we will not be deterred in our efforts. If this huge, powerful corporation can\u2019t handle it, then they should go sit at the little kid\u2019s table.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the pro-legalization campaign, Smart & Safe Florida, released an ad of its own this week, highlighting the fact that both major party presidential nominees and their running mates oppose criminalizing people over cannabis<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ad\u2014titled \u201cWe\u2019re All Saying the Same Thing\u201d\u2014comes just days after Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, reaffirmed her support for legalizing marijuana<\/a>. That followed weeks of silence on the issue after she rose to the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n Smart & Safe Florida took that opportunity to compile a roundup of clips featuring Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D)\u2014as well as former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, and his VP pick Sen. JD Vance (R-OH)\u2014voicing support for reform.<\/p>\n \u201cAmendment 3 isn\u2019t about political parties or red v. blue identities,\u201d Morgan Hill, spokesperson for the campaign, said in a press release. \u201cSupporting the legalization of recreational adult use marijuana is about upholding the principles of individual freedom and liberty that our country was founded upon.\u201d<\/p>\n While each candidate was shown talking about their belief that the country should stop criminalizing people over cannabis, there are still some nuances to their individual marijuana positions.<\/p>\n Harris and Walz both back legalization. During her time in the Senate, Harris sponsored a bill to end federal cannabis prohibition, for example. And Walz enthusiastically signed a Minnesota bill into law to enact legalization at the state level. However, while he\u2019s supported federal reform during his time in Congress, he recently said\u00a0he believes it\u2019s a matter that should be left up to states<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump, a Florida resident, is the\u00a0only candidate who has specifically endorsed Amendment 3<\/a>, but he\u2019s historically taken a states\u2019 rights position on legalization overall. Recently, he also came out in support of federal rescheduling and allowing marijuana industry access to the banking system.<\/p>\n Outside the presidential race, there\u2019s been a mix of support and opposition for the Florida legalization amendment on both sides of the partisan spectrum.<\/p>\n For example, the former head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under then-President Bill Clinton\u00a0recently urged Florida voters to reject the marijuana legalization initiative<\/a>, arguing that it would create a \u201cnew addiction-for-profit industry\u201d in the state.<\/p>\n Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019s (R) opposition is well-established. And last week the governor\u00a0was accused of weaponizing a taxpayer-funded ad<\/a>\u00a0from a state agency as part of his campaign to defeat the marijuana measure.<\/p>\n Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party and a former state agriculture commissioner, recently endorsed Amendment 3. And the chair also\u00a0laid out a framework for regulating cannabis<\/a>\u00a0that she thinks the legislature should enact if voters do approve the reform. That involves automatic expungements for prior marijuana convictions, taking steps to mitigate the risk of monopolization in the industry and directing tax revenue to Black communities and education.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, two congressional Republicans representing Florida also\u00a0recently weighed in on the state\u2019s marijuana legalization initiative<\/a>\u2014with Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) predicting it will fail and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) saying he remains undecided on the measure even after former President Donald Trump came out in support of it.<\/p>\n Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), for his part, has said he intends to vote against it,\u00a0strictly because he feels the reform should be enacted statutorily<\/a>, rather than as a constitutional amendment that would prove more challenging to amend.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus,\u00a0predicted earlier this year that the measure will pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n A pair of Republican and Democratic Florida senators\u00a0recently teamed up to promote the state marijuana legalization initiative<\/a>, making a joint appearance in a new ad for the campaign as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continues to rally against the measure, claiming it would benefit a corporate \u201cweed cartel.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Joe Gruters (R), the former chair of the Florida Republican Party, and Sen. Shevrin Jones (D) stood side-by-side in the ad for Smart & Safe Florida, acknowledging that while they \u201cdon\u2019t agree on much\u2014hardly anything\u201d and would be each voting for their respective party\u2019s presidential nominee, they \u201cdo agree on this: Amendment 3 is good for Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n While polling has also\u00a0consistently demonstrated that the ballot measure enjoys majority support<\/a>\u00a0from Democrats and Republicans alike\u2014and despite the fact that the 2024 GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump, has endorsed it as well\u2014Florida\u2019s governor\u00a0has not relented in his crusade to defeat it<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers and Gruters, the GOP state senator,\u00a0also met with Trump ahead of his endorsement of Amendment 3<\/a>, as well as federal rescheduling and industry banking access.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, another recent survey from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which is against the cannabis initiative, found that\u00a059 percent of likely voters in the state back Amendment 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n A separate poll from the James Madison Institute (JMI) showed\u00a064 percent of likely voters in Florida are in favor of the legalization proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Smart & Safe Florida also\u00a0rolled out another series of new ads last month<\/a>\u2014including one calling out the hypocrisy of criminalizing cannabis while alcohol is legally available and another featuring a county sheriff making the case for ending marijuana prohibition.<\/p>\n Top GOP Pennsylvania Senator Voices Support For Marijuana Decriminalization, Activist Who Spoke With Her Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Company Behind Florida\u2019s Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure Sues State Republican Party Over \u2018False And Misleading\u2019 Claims To Voters<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The main backer of a marijuana legalization initiative on Florida\u2019s ballot next month has filed a defamation suit against the state\u2019s Republican Party, alleging it knowingly deceived voters about the proposed constitutional change known as Amendment 3. Trulieve, Florida\u2019s largest medical marijuana operator, which has contributed more than $90 millionContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"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\/78094"}],"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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78095,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78094\/revisions\/78095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Company Behind Florida\u2019s Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure Sues State Republican Party Over \u2018False And Misleading\u2019 Claims To Voters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"