With the Florida Supreme Court weighing whether to allow an adult-use marijuana legalization measure to be on November’s ballot, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday reiterated his stance against the policy change, complaining that letting adults legally consume cannabis could impact businesses and communities—including as the result of odor.
“I’ve gone to some of these cities that have had this everywhere, it smells, there’s all these things,” he told reporters, complaining that the proposal wouldn’t give government officials enough power to control when and where marijuana businesses operate—a claim backers of the initiative deny.
“I don’t want to be able to go walk in front of shops and have this, I don’t want every hotel to really smell,” he added, “I don’t want all these things. But if you’re saying you can’t regulate it or you can’t limit it—which, that’s how I read that—that could be a big, big problem.”
Despite his opposition to the initiative, DeSantis, the former GOP presidential candidate who dropped out of the race in January, has predicted that the state’s highest court will ultimately allow the measure on November’s ballot.
“I think the court is going to approve that,” the governor said at his final campaign event in New Hampshire earlier this year, “so it’ll be on the ballot.”
Hellbound and Down 