The momentum is building for marijuana legalization across the country. But will Florida leaders join in?
Voters in states as varied as South Dakota, Arizona and New Jersey approved ballot measures legalizing recreational pot in November.
In Florida, though, two separate marijuana initiatives failed to get enough signatures to make the ballot in 2020. Instead, they aimed for 2022.
Both petitions already have faced hostility from state Attorney General Ashley Moody and skepticism from GOP legislators in Tallahassee, who held hearings last year on the potential dangers of pot legalization.
But one of the most prominent supporters of legal marijuana, however, thinks resistance is crumbling on both sides.
“Younger Republicans are already outflanking some [Democrats],” said Orlando attorney John Morgan, who spearheaded the successful medical marijuana initiative in 2016 but is staying out of the fight this time. “They use it regularly and prefer it to booze.”
But he had much higher expectations for the other party.
“Any person who runs for the Democratic nomination [for governor] and doesn’t support full legalization should not run at all,” Morgan said. “It is disqualifying.”
‘They’re lighting up’
Morgan, who personally backed the successful medical marijuana and $15 minimum wage amendments, has said he would be a cheerleader this time around and would back both petition campaigns.
But he said he thinks it won’t be too long until one or both parties are behind it.
“This is the 21st century,” Morgan said. “The laws are racist and outdated. So many lives have been ruined for nothing.”
According to a 2020 study by the American Civil Liberties Union, Black people are 3.64 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite using pot at similar levels.
“In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010,” the study concluded.
Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida, said it was possible the Legislature could change its tune.
“Certainly the more progressive members would be for this,” Jewett said. “But there are some Republicans that are beginning to change their minds,” citing U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Pensacola, and his advocacy for legalization in Congress.
Gaetz told GOP colleagues earlier this month that arguments against legal pot “are overwhelmingly losing with the American people,” according to The Hill. He was among five Republicans who voted with the Democrats in the House to decriminalize pot earlier this month.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Senate President Wilton Simpson, both Republicans, have said they were against legalization.
“Not while I’m governor,” DeSantis said in an interview with North Florida’s WCTV television station. “I mean look, when that is introduced with teenagers and young people, I think it has a really detrimental effect to their well-being and their maturity.”
Randy Ross, the Orange County Trump campaign chair in 2016 and legalization backer, said the question of more GOP legislators backing legalization “depends on whether they want to win or not.”
“The far-right establishment Republicans won’t support it out of some pseudo-belief it is wrong and their base is against it,” Ross said. “Meanwhile, behind the scenes, they’re lighting up for medical reasons or stress relief. More moderate Republicans, like myself, recognize the benefits of legalization ... I say legalize and tax it appropriately.”
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who narrowly won in 2018 despite every other statewide Democrat losing, was a strong proponent of medical marijuana.
Now, she’s seen as one of the most likely Democratic candidates for governor in 2022. Since the House vote earlier this month, she’s been increasingly vocal in her support of full legalization.
“Florida should legalize marijuana for adult use, pass it around,” Fried tweeted on Monday, in response to a tweet from Morgan. She also told Spectrum News 13 last week that legalization “is essential.”
Asked if Fried openly advocating for legal pot could be a game-changer, Ross joked, “If all Democrats have to hang their hat on in 2022 is legalizing marijuana ... Well, they’re in trouble.”
One longtime backer of legal pot, state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, said his party standard-bearer needs to be at the forefront of the issue.
“Legalizing cannabis isn’t a radical idea,” said Smith, D-Orlando. “It’s mainstream. And a majority of Floridians understand that prohibition has caused substantially more harm than good.”
A Gallup Poll from November showed 68% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, the highest rate ever. As recently as 2000, support was at 30%.
At the end of 2020, 15 states and the District of Columbia had legalized recreational marijuana, and another 15 had decriminalized it.
Legal pot would also create jobs and cultivate entrepreneurs, Smith said, especially among people of color who have long been targets of anti-drug policies.
It was time “for the Democratic Party to fully embrace cannabis legalization beyond being just an issue of criminal justice or personal freedom, but also as a critical economic issue,” Smith said.
Dual amendments
The massive turnout in the November elections only makes it more difficult for the rival marijuana campaigns, as the number of signatures needed is tied to how many people voted overall. And the ongoing pandemic will only increase the challenges of gathering support.
“It’s definitely going to add another obstacle,” said Karen Goldstein, deputy director of pro-pot group NORML Florida and vice-chair of the Regulate Florida campaign.
If placed on the 2022 ballot and approved by 60% of voters, Regulate Florida’s proposed amendment would legalize marijuana for adults over age 21 and would also allow them to grow their own.
The group has been gathering petitions since 2016, raising almost $500,000 in cash and in-kind donations, largely with small $20 to $50 contributions. One of the largest single contributions of $20,000 came from Seminole County business owner Oliver Dawoud, CEO of Aventus Health.
The other campaign, Make It Legal Florida, was a latecomer to the petition process, forming in August 2019, just six months before the deadline to get on the 2020 ballot.
The referendum is similar to the amendment that approved medical marijuana, with all distribution handled through designated centers such as those already run by MedMen and Parallel in Florida.
It’s backed by those same companies, with contributions of more than $8 million from Med Men and Parallel, formerly known as Surterra. But the last major contribution from them was at the end of 2019.
Both groups have gathered enough signatures for a state Supreme Court review, but everything has been in limbo for the past year, Goldstein said.
“We did oral arguments on February 4, 2020,” she said. “And we are still waiting for the Supreme Court to determine the validity of the language. The other petition did their oral arguments not that long after us. … And they haven’t gotten anything yet, either.”
Nick Hansen, the chair of Make It Legal Florida, said he anticipated a ruling from the court “any day.”
Until then, he acknowledged, “We’ve still been collecting in sort of earnest, but not really.”
Make It Legal Florida has 555,280 signatures, but the amount needed to get on the ballot jumped from 766,200 in 2020 to 891,589 in 2022. Those requirements are based on 8% of the previous presidential election turnout, which in 2020 was record-breaking.
Their campaign, at least, is largely mail-based and pandemic proof.
“Once we’re back up and running at full capacity, we will most assuredly finish it out through the mail,” Hansen said. “It was very effective for us. It’s slightly more expensive, but … because we’re going right to the voters, we’re making it very simple for them.”
Regulate Florida, meanwhile, has just 65,778 signatures, almost half a million less than Make It Legal Florida. But “they had a lot more money,” Goldstein said. “We just have grassroots support.”
Its strategy relies on face-to-face canvassers.
“It’s going to be hard to get people out in masks to stand on street corners and go to events and talk to people about a petition,” Goldstein acknowledged.
slemongello@orlandosentinel.com