Florida's prison chief takes aim at pot amendment

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon lit up the weed world this week with an opinion piece criticizing a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow adults to use recreational marijuana.

Dixon, who oversees the third-largest prison system in the nation, took aim at the proposal in a column published Monday by the Tampa Bay Times.

Dixon targeted what he described as “various false claims” made by media outlets, including the Times, which recently published a story saying that thousands of people in Florida are charged each year for having small amounts of marijuana.

“These assertions are untrue, and in some cases, intentionally disingenuous. Media outlets have willfully published plain falsehoods around the incarceration of individuals in Florida’s prisons,” Dixon wrote.

Dixon said Florida only has 37 people in state prisons “for the primary offense of possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana.” All of those inmates had their sentences enhanced because of other circumstances, according to Dixon.

“The narrative being promoted by some activists that individuals are imprisoned solely for minor marijuana possession is a lie. Currently, the only marijuana-related offenses that result in prison sentences involve large amounts consistent with trafficking charges. This is defined as possessing more than 20 grams (or about 0.71 ounces) of marijuana,” argued Dixon.

The proposed constitutional amendment, which will appear on the November ballot as Amendment 3 and is backed by the Smart & Safe Florida political committee, would allow people to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana.

According to Dixon, people who’ve been busted for drug-related crimes consistently “recognize their drug use significantly contributed to their criminal trajectories and subsequent incarceration.”

“Substance abuse, including marijuana, exacerbates criminal behavior,” Dixon argued, predicting “an increase in our state’s prison population thanks to increased crime surrounding the legalization of marijuana.”

Some proponents of the measure, however, contend that Dixon’s math doesn’t add up. It’s true that most people convicted primarily of low-level marijuana charges don’t end up in state prisons — they wind up in county jails.

Under Florida law, possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana is a first-degree misdemeanor which can carry a sentence of up to a year in county jail.

“In the state of Florida, you can be arrested for any amount of marijuana. Felonies begin at 20 grams of flower, but possession of any amount of marijuana oil could lead to a felony charge,” Morgan Hill, a spokeswoman for Smart & Safe Florida, said in an email.

Any marijuana-related arrest “negatively impacts a person’s life, making it harder to get a job, go to school, and get ahead,” she added.

Dixon’s boss, Gov. Ron DeSantis, has come out swinging against the proposed amendment, and the corrections chief isn’t the only member of the governor’s team involved in trying to make sure it doesn’t pass.

DeSantis’ chief of staff, James Uthmeier, is heading two political committees opposing the marijuana proposal and another initiative, Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution.