TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action launched a new ad campaign urging Floridians to vote “NO” on Amendment 3, a Florida ballot initiative seeking to constitutionally protect the recreational use of marijuana.
Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action is a nonprofit “dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana policy.”
In a press release, the group said the measure is being “bankrolled” by the state’s largest marijuana corporation, Trulieve.
The group said there has been an “onslaught of pro-drug propaganda that implies marijuana and THC drugs are safe and even ‘recreation.’”
The campaign intends to show “clear, bipartisan opposition against allowing a multi-billion-dollar corporate monopoly from marketing drugs to young people, communities of color and those suffering from addiction who will be overwhelmingly victimized if Amendment 3 passes.”
“Democrats and Republican leaders at every level oppose mass commercialization of marijuana because of the industry’s predatory practices and their efforts to hook a new generation of users on dangerous, psychoactive drugs,” SAM Action President Kevin A. Sabet said.
Sabet said the amendment is written “as if it were solely for Trulieve’s benefit.”
One of the advertisements includes previous footage of Gov. Ron DeSantis, former President Barack Obama, and other bipartisan leaders speaking out against marijuana.
“I’m not for it. I don’t think, I don’t think it’s good to do. I don’t think we need to mess up the state,” DeSantis said in the video.
The amendment is opposed by DeSantis and the Republican Party of Florida, but has the backing of some Republicans, including former President Donald Trump.
The second newly released ad features SAM co-founder and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I.
In the ad, Kennedy said when he visits Florida, the “last thing he wants” is for it to “smell like marijuana.”
“I don’t want my kids targeted by advertisers who try to get them to use vapes, to try to get them to use THC lollipops. I don’t want to drive down your freeways with a bunch of stoned drivers. Amendment 3 is not for me. Vote NO in November,” Kennedy said in the video.
The group plans to run the ads in Florida. To read the full amendment, click here.