DeSantis, Ashley Moody, voters: Who wants recreational marijuana in Florida and who doesn't?

Will recreational weed become legal in Florida? Last month, the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments for and against a proposed recreational marijuana constitutional amendment to decide if legalized pot will be on the ballot in the 2024 election.

If the measure makes it and voters pass it next year, anyone 21 years old and up may use and possess up to three ounces of marijuana with not more than five grams in a concentrated form (with assorted restrictions) and it could be sold through marijuana dispensaries without the need for a medical marijuana card.

Marijuana possession, sales, transportation and use would still be against federal law, however.

What does Gov. Ron DeSantis say about recreational marijuana in Florida?

While early in his tenure Gov. Ron DeSantis initially backed ending the Florida Legislature's argument over limitations to the medical marijuana amendment that voters approved in a landslide in 2016, he has since spoken out against legalizing or decriminalizing recreational marijuana in the state on multiple occasions, at least once because of the smell.

"I think a lot of those other areas that have done it you know have ended up regretting it," DeSantis said during a 2022 press conference in Tallahassee. "I could not believe the pungent odor that you would see in some of these places and I don't want to see that here. I want people to be able to breathe freely."

During his campaign to be the 2024 GOP presidential candidate DeSantis has made opposition to legal marijuana a regular point, often tying it to the fentanyl crisis. In June, he called medical marijuana "very controversial."

"I don't think we would do that," DeSantis said when asked about decriminalizing marijuana during an event in South Carolina. "But I think what I've done in Florida is, we have a medical program through our constitution that the voters did and so the veterans who are in those situations in Florida, they're actually allowed access. It's very controversial because obviously there's some people that abuse it and are using it recreationally."

At an event in Iowa in August, he called it a "real, real problem," said "the drugs are killing this country," and declared he would not legalize pot because it was more potent now, Florida Politics reported.

"I think it’s a lot different than stuff that people were using 30 or 40 years ago. And I think when kids get on that, I think it causes a lot of problems,” the governor said. “And then, of course, you know, they can throw fentanyl in any of this stuff now.”

What does State Attorney General Ashley Moody say about recreational marijuana in Florida?

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has managed to largely avoid commenting directly on recreational marijuana, declining to respond to questions during her two campaigns and saying that as attorney general she should not be commenting "on issues that may be the subject of future litigation implicating the validity of state laws."

But in May she filed to block the recreational marijuana amendment from the 2024 ballot because she said the proposed ballot language was not clear and didn't stick to a single subject requirement. In arguments before the state Supreme Court in November, state attorneys expanded on that with claims that the wording didn't make it clear that marijuana was still illegal under federal law and that the amendment would empower the small cartel that currently supplies medical marijuana.

Moody has previously said the measure would give an unfair advantage to the state's largest marijuana purveyor, Trulieve, which contributed all but 124 dollars of the $39 million raised to promote the amendment.

“In the end," Moody wrote in a statement to the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, "if the Sponsor wanted to abolish state-law barriers to recreational marijuana, the straightforward way would have been to erase the old medical regime and replace it with a recreational one,” Moody writes.

Moody's challenge: Are politics of pot at play in Florida AG's challenge of recreational marijuana initiative?

What do marijuana advocates say about recreational marijuana in Florida?

The backers of Smart & Safe Florida, the committee behind the recreational marijuana amendment, are obviously in favor.

Country rock stars-turned-growers Howard and David Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers launched the campaign with a request to allow law-abiding Floridians "partake in responsible cannabis use" as part of a "safe, legal cannabis industry for adults over 21" with penalties for illegal sale or distribution.

"Let it ring and help us, you know, let your love flow," David Bellamy said in an announcement video, quoting the name of the group's 1976 hit song.

"You had to go there, didn't you," Howard said.

In a July opinion piece for the Orlando Sentinel, David Bellamy, a Republican, thanked DeSantis and Moody for their concern over illegal drugs and potential fentanyl contamination in marijuana, but said making it legal — "the next, natural step" — would help reduce that.

"A well-regulated market helps make sure that there are no harmful additives that can lead to overdoses," he wrote. "In Florida, all cannabis that is currently sold is tested to ensure purity and to guarantee that no dangerous chemicals are added. An adult-use scenario — whether it is implemented by law or by a constitutional amendment — will improve safety for all adults who use it."

Trulieve, which currently has 129 dispensing locations in Florida and distributed 123,816,142 mgs of medical marijuana in the last week of November, backed the committee with $38 million to collect signatures.

“It’s all about improving access," Truelieve CEO Kim Rivers said when Smart & Safe organized in August.

“We came into this with a mission to provide access to high-quality products that are safe … to give folks control over their, in the original days, medical journey. I don’t think that changes here,” said Rivers.

Pot advocates across the state have been pushing for legalized marijuana for years. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) "supports the adoption of a legally regulated market for marijuana, where adult consumers can buy marijuana for personal use from a safe legal source".

But Chris Cano, the executive director of the Suncoast NORML chapter, spoke against the proposed amendment in May because it opened up marijuana sales only for the small group of licensed sellers already selling medical marijuana in the state.

“The amendment itself does nothing to expand the cannabis industry. It essentially allows the existing limited cartel structure of license holders to start selling over-the-counter adult use cannabis for a higher price,” Cano said.

Is weed legal in Florida? Here's what to know about marijuana laws in the Sunshine State

What does local law enforcement say about recreational marijuana in Florida?

Aside from a few rare outliers such as Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, who praised the county commission for decriminalizing marijuana in 2020, most Florida sheriffs and police are against loosening marijuana laws any more than they have been already.

In 2016, the Florida Sheriff's Association spearheaded a "Don't Let Florida Go to Pot" campaign to prevent the medical marijuana amendment from passing, with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd calling it "the great fraud of 2014" and saying it was a way to legalize marijuana under the guise of medicine. The FSA released a position opposing the amendment, but remained open to authorization of strictly controlled, non-euphoric medical marijuana.

"Florida’s sheriffs believe that legalizing smoking marijuana, which has no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, is a dangerous decision for our state and its citizens," the FSA said, "Florida’s Sheriffs stand firm in their opposition to the legalization of the use, possession, cultivation, delivery and sale of marijuana."

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco pointed out at the time that it's harder to prosecute marijuana-impaired drivers than drunken ones and that after legalization Colorado reported a rise in fatal crashes involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana.

"Colorado is seeing legal and public safety issues with driving under the influence," Nocco said. "There is no reason to believe those problems won't follow here in Florida."

DeSantis appointed both Chronister and Nocco to the state's Drug Policy Advisory Council in June.

What do Florida voters say about recreational marijuana in Florida?

We won't know for certain until the votes are counted next year, assuming the amendment makes it onto the ballot. But the amendment received 1,033,769 signatures, over 142,000 more than needed, according to MyFloridaElections.com, and polls consistently show strong and growing support.

In 2014, a Quinnipiac poll found that 55% of Florida voters supported recreational marijuana. By 2019, a poll by the University of South Florida reported that 64% favored outright legalization of marijuana. A poll released in March this year by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab found that 70% of the respondents supported the amendment.

To pass, the recreational marijuana amendment would have to receive 60% of the vote, although this year Republican legislators attempted to raise that threshold to 66.67%. A medical marijuana amendment, which allowed marijuana sales to patients diagnosed with one of a small list of ailments and conditions, was overwhelmingly approved by Florida voters in 2016 with 71% of the vote.

What does the federal government say about recreational marijuana in Florida?

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), marijuana is a controlled substance and is considered a Schedule I drug, defined as drugs "with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ecstasy, methaqualone, and peyote. Cultivating, distributing and possessing marijuana violates federal drug laws.

However, in October 2022 President Joe Biden announced he was pardoning people with federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana, blocking future federal prosecutions for simple possession, and asking the departments of Justice, and Health and Human Services to review how marijuana should be scheduled under federal law.

What do other states say about recreational marijuana?

Nearly half the country has made weed legal, with Ohio the latest state to legalize recreational marijuana. That makes 23 states, three U.S. territories, and D.C. where you can buy, possess and use pot.

• Ohio: Legalized in 2023

• Minnesota: Legalized in 2023

• Delaware: Legalized in 2023

• Rhode Island: Legalized in 2022

• Maryland: Legalized in 2022

• Missouri: Legalized in 2022

• Connecticut: Legalized in 2021

• New Mexico: Legalized in 2021

• New York: Legalized in 2021

• Virginia: Legalized in 2021

• Arizona: Legalized in 2020

• Montana: Legalized in 2020

• New Jersey: Legalized in 2020

• Vermont: Legalized in 2020

• Illinois: Legalized in 2019

• Michigan: Legalized in 2018

• California: Legalized in 2016

• Maine: Legalized in 2016

• Massachusetts: Legalized in 2016

• Nevada: Legalized in 2016

• District of Columbia: Legalized in 2014

• Alaska: Legalized 2014

• Oregon: Legalized in 2014

• Colorado: Legalized in 2012

• Washington: Legalized in 2012

There are also recreational marijuana amendments firing up in Nebraska and South Dakota for the 2024 ballot. Medical marijuana is even more popular, with only 11 states prohibiting it.

Samantha Neely, Brandon Girod, James Call, Douglas Soule, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Recreational marijuana in Florida? Who is in favor, against legal weed