Ron DeSantis-supported opposition mounts against Florida marijuana ballot question

More Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed opposition is mounting against the recreational marijuana amendment appearing on Florida's 2024 election ballot.

Amendment 3 , if it gets at least 60% of the vote, would allow non-medical marijuana possession of up to 3 ounces, with no more than 5 grams in concentrated form, for those who are 21 years old and up.

But a new group, called Vote No on 3 , is trying to make sure that doesn't happen.

It "has the full support of the Governor and plans to run a vigorous and full-throated campaign to warn Floridians about this deceptive amendment seeking to make Florida the California of the east – a notion anathema to most Floridians," wrote representatives of the group in a Friday press release, first reported by Florida Politics.

James Uthmeier, DeSantis' chief of staff, will serve on its board in his "personal capacity," according to the release.

Tre’ Evers, who previously served on the board of the super PAC for DeSantis' failed presidential campaign, will be its general consultant. Ryan Tyson, who also worked on the campaign, is serving as a senior advisor and pollster.

Uthmeier is also listed as the chair of a recently-created political action committee called Keep Florida Clean, Inc. , which will communicate publicly as “No on 3," according to Sarah Bascom, spokesperson for Vote No on 3 and a longtime Republican public relations power player in Tallahassee.

The campaign is being run by Consensus Communications , where Evers works , and which Vote No on 3 says has a "track record handling winning ballot initiatives in Florida is unparalleled." One of its founders is John Sowinski , long involved in statewide ballot questions, including one that created the state's “ Voter Control of Gambling ” constitutional amendment.

Uthmeier additionally is the chair of the Florida Freedom Fund , which was launched by DeSantis . It's yet another tool top state conservatives are using in an attempt to tank Amendment 3, but it's being used to support GOP candidates and oppose Amendment 4 , which would protect abortion rights if approved.

The announcement came a week after CBS News reported that hemp executives had pledged the Republican Party of Florida $5 million following the governor's veto of a bill that would have greatly restricted the industry. Evan Power , the party chairman, and Bill Helmich , its executive director, are both hemp industry lobbyists.

Hemp derivatives like delta-8 can make users high but are allowed due to a loophole in a 2018 federal farm bill . Critics say it's unregulated and unsafe. When smoked, some of the hemp products smell like marijuana.

Yet, while vetoing the hemp restriction that would have outlawed or limited the substances, one of DeSantis' biggest gripes with Amendment 3 is his belief that it would lead to more pot smell around the state.

On its website, Vote No on 3 claims the amendment will increase the black market marijuana industry and lead more minors to use it. It also accuses the amendment of not allowing marijuana to be restricted in public areas and other regulatory issues.

Morgan Hill, spokesperson for pro-Amendment 3 group Smart & Safe Florida , said in a Friday statement that was all false: "Marijuana is already here in Florida, but in a dangerous form often laced with unwanted dangerous chemicals. Amendment 3 is really about choosing freedom and safety over arrests and dangerous products."

Hill added: "Legalizing recreational adult use marijuana means giving Floridians access to tested, safe products instead of marijuana with dangerous chemicals, pesticides and fentanyl that is too common in the illicit market. It also means ending arrests for simple marijuana possession, giving Floridians the same individual freedoms that more than half of Americans already enjoy."

Vote No on 3 said in its announcement that no money had been spent opposing Amendment 3 yet but there's still "plenty of time." The Florida Freedom Fund only had around $120,000 as of its last campaign finance report.

The opposition's monetary resources still fall behind the trove of cash currently carried by Smart & Safe Florida , most of it coming from Trulieve, Florida's largest medical marijuana operator. As of its campaign finance report from last week, the group had $12.5 million left to spend, discounting any funds it may have received in the meantime.

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This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Ron DeSantis-supported opposition mounts against Florida marijuana ballot question