Lawmakers join Amendment 3 supporters in challenging DeSantis' weed-smell warning
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A woman lights a marijuana blunt on Ocean Drive last year in Miami Beach. Photo: Miami Herald via Getty Images
Supporters of Amendment 3 — including some GOP lawmakers — are making moves to reassure Florida voters that its passage this fall won't lead to a recreational weed free-for-all.
The big picture: The efforts challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis' critique that, should the amendment pass, Florida "will start to smell like marijuana."
Driving the news: On Thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers announced legislation to ban smoking in public.
- Shortly after, the weed industry-backed group behind Amendment 3 launched a new messaging campaign: "Freedom Doesn't Stink."
- The campaign plays up the state legislature's authority to regulate where people could use marijuana, just as it does alcohol and tobacco products.
Zoom in: State Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) — who recently voiced his support for the amendment — said he shares concerns about the smell but that he expects it to pass and wants "guardrails in place."
- He's co-sponsoring the legislation with state Sen. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat, and Broward County Republican state Rep. Chip LaMarca.
The measure would ban smoking of any kind in public places including sidewalks, beaches and parks, and common areas at schools, government buildings and more.
- The ban includes vaping and cigars, said Gruters, a former Florida GOP chair.
Reality check: Many cities and counties — including St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and Miami Beach — already ban cigarette smoking at public beaches and parks.
- Florida once preempted local governments from banning smoking, but Gruters co-sponsored a measure in 2022 lifting that ban.
Catch up quick: DeSantis has repeatedly spoken against the amendment as "basically a license to have [marijuana] anywhere you want."
- "This state will start to smell like marijuana in our cities and towns; it will reduce the quality of life," DeSantis said in April.
- The Republican Party of Florida has also said the measure would harm "Florida's family-friendly business and tourism climates."
The other side: "What really stinks is politicians lying to Florida voters about the realities of living in a state with more individual freedom and safer communities," Smart & Safe spokesperson Morgan Hill said in a news release.
- Representatives for DeSantis did not respond to Axios' request for comment on Thursday.