“I don’t support recreational marijuana. I think the current regulatory system around medicinal use is fine.”
Author: Mitch Perry, Phoenix, Florida
the subject of Should Florida legalize recreational cannabis? Smart & Safe Florida, the organization behind the initiative to return to voters this November, disappeared as a major campaign issue earlier this year after falling short of the nearly 880,000 verified petition signatures needed to qualify for the statewide ballot.
That defeat came a year and a half after nearly 56 Floridians voted to legalize recreational marijuana on the November 2024 ballot, a clear majority but far short of the 60 percent needed for passage.
While it’s not something voters will decide this year, Floridians may want to know where the candidates for statewide office stand.
Speaking at a “Business Women for Byron” campaign event Tuesday at the Getaway, a waterfront restaurant and Tiki bar in St. Petersburg, the first question an audience member asked GOP gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds was his stance on the issue.
“I don’t condone recreational marijuana,” Donalds responded. “I think the current regulatory system around drug use is fine.”
Donalds has previously admitted to being arrested for possession of “a dime bag of marijuana” as a teenager, and recently admitted to CBS Miami he actually sold small amounts of cannabis in his youth.
Now he says he doesn’t support expanding legal weed use beyond the 924,820 Floridians listed as medical marijuana patients, according to the Office of Medical Marijuana Use.
Acceptance in medicine, but never for entertainment
Other Republicans running for governor share Donalds’ sentiments.
“I am against recreational marijuana in Florida,” investment firm CEO James Fishback told the Phoenix in a text message. “I’ve seen what it’s done in cities that have already tried it, from New York to Chicago to Washington DC. The stench of pot in public parks and outside our schools can never reach Florida.”
However, Fishback says he will always protect “the right of those who have a legitimate medical purpose, including our U.S. military veterans.”
“No one should be denied herbal medicine and pushed toward an addictive prescription from big pharma for painkillers,” she said. “As governor, I will support medical marijuana. But I won’t allow champs to smoke pot in a public park, just like we already don’t allow them to drink in one.”
“I’ve been clear from day one. I am totally opposed to legalizing marijuana,” Gov. Jay Collins said in a video posted on social media on April 26. “We’ve seen the impact in other states, and it’s not where Florida is headed. I’m with Governor DeSantis on this one. No compromise, and no money from the marijuana industry. That’s all my opponents can say.”
“I’m against recreational marijuana,” former House Speaker Paul Renner said Wednesday at a panel discussion on high energy prices in Hillsborough County.
“We have medical. It was put in the Constitution (in 2016). If people want to get it, they can get it. And we opened that up as much as needed, but I’m against recreation. Period. If it goes back to the ballot, like Gov. DeSantis did.”
DeSantis announced in June 2024 that he would use a political action committee to fight the constitutional amendment on recreational marijuana, saying he could not believe the Florida Supreme Court had agreed to allow the measure’s language to go on the November ballot.
He later used tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to campaign against that proposal and another measure that would have guaranteed abortion rights in Florida, according to a Tampa Bay Times report.
Where are the Democrats?
Phoenix caught up with the two top Democrats running for governor this year: former GOP U.S. Rep. David Jolly and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.
“I think the role of the governor is to represent the majority of the state, and the majority of the state asked for it, and I think we should,” Jolly told the Phoenix in a phone call Tuesday.
The Pinellas County Democrat says he voted against Amendment 3 in 2024, which would have called for the legalization of recreational marijuana use for adults.
But since announcing his candidacy last year, Jolly has emphasized that he will work to implement all of the recent constitutional amendments that have been approved by a majority in Florida, but have failed to reach the high margin of 60 percent needed to take advantage.
“Recreational marijuana received more than 50 percent of the vote in the constitutional amendment process and I would support enactment and introduce any amendment that received more than 50 percent of the vote in the legislature. That includes open primaries, recreational marijuana, and the 4th Amendment on reproductive freedom,” he said.
The only major gubernatorial candidate Phoenix couldn’t clear was Demings. While serving as Orlando’s police chief in the 2010s, Demings opposed constitutional amendments that would have legalized medical marijuana. 2014 and 2016
The Phoenix reached out to the Demings campaign by phone and email for two days this week, but did not receive a response. Calls to the phone number listed in the latest press release from the Demings campaign were answered by a recording that the person with the number did not have a voice mail system set up.
President Trump passed the 3rd Amendment
One prominent Florida Republican who supported the 3rd Amendment in 2024 was President Donald Trump.
“As I’ve said before, I believe it’s time to end the unnecessary arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use. We also need to put smart rules in place, giving adults access to a safe and tested product,” Trump posted on Truth Social in September 2024. “Like Florida, I will vote YES on Amendment 3 in November.”
In that position, the president promised to work to make marijuana a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act if elected to the White House, which he did in an executive order in December.
The US Department of Justice announced last month that it would immediately move FDA-approved marijuana products, along with items regulated by a state medical marijuana license, under Title III. Medical cannabis falls under the category of controlled drugs that have a recognized medical use, such as Tylenol, and not Schedule I drugs, such as heroin and LSD, which have no medical use and a high potential for abuse.
This story was first published by the Florida Phoenix.
user photo Philip Steffan.