Group opposing legal weed amendment forms, staffed with DeSantis allies

A new political committee staffed with allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to oppose Amendment 3, which would allow adults in Florida to use marijuana recreationally.

The committee, Vote No on 3, announced in a news release on Friday that they have the “full support of the Governor.”

DeSantis has criticized the amendment for being overly broad and said that legalization could lead to people being allowed to smoke marijuana anywhere at any time — even saying it could lead to people bringing “joints to an elementary school.”

Amendment sponsors have pushed back, saying the Legislature would be able to regulate marijuana consumption in the same way they are able to regulate tobacco use.

Tre’ Evers, a political consultant who was on the board of the super PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential campaign, will be the general consultant for the anti-Amendment 3 committee. Ryan Tyson, who has advised DeSantis on multiple campaigns, will be a senior advisor and a pollster. And James Uthmeier, the governor’s chief of staff, will serve on the team’s board in his personal capacity.

Consensus Communications, the group running the opposition campaign, has won 19 of the ballot initiatives they have been involved with, according to the committee.

Amendment 3, the opposition group says, will let “drug dealers run rampant,” fuel the black market of drugs, and force Floridians to “completely alter their lives” to avoid secondhand smoke.

“We look forward to making clear to Floridians of all backgrounds how Amendment 3 is a bad plan for our state, and we will defeat it come November,” Sarah Bascom, a spokeswoman for Vote No on 3, said in a statement.

DeSantis has been expected to fundraise against both the marijuana amendment and a proposed amendment that would allow abortions up until viability, or about 24 weeks, undoing the state’s current six week ban. But his new political committee has raised only about $120,000 so far and has spent hardly any of it. The Vote No on 3 news release noted that no money has been spent opposing the legalization effort so far.

Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the recreational pot amendment, has raised more than $60 million, with millions spent on advertisements currently running.

Morgan Hill, a spokeswoman for the Smart & Safe Florida campaign, said the marijuana already present in the state is often laced with unwanted drugs.

“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,” Hill said in a statement. “It also means ending arrests for simple marijuana possession, giving Floridians the same individual freedoms that more than half of Americans already enjoy.”

The proposed amendment needs 60% of voter support in November to pass.