Florida Republicans and the state's hemp industry are collaborating to oppose a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in November's elections. This opposition is primarily financially backed by the hemp industry, which is contributing to both Governor Ron DeSantis' political committee and the Republican Party of Florida's efforts against the amendment.
DeSantis vetoed in June a bill that could have significantly impacted the hemp industry by making key cannabinoids illegal. J.D. McCormick, president of the Florida Healthy Alternatives Association, argued that without DeSantis' intervention, the hemp industry would have been rendered illegal in Florida.
The Florida Healthy Alternatives Association is actively fundraising for the state Republican Party's "Vote No" campaign against the marijuana amendment. McCormick likened the hemp industry's struggle against Trulieve, a major marijuana company and supporter of the amendment, to a "David and Goliath" scenario, emphasizing the threat to small businesses. He contended that the amendment's passage would likely force many hemp businesses, which sell products like delta-8 joints, gummies, and vapes, out of business.
Trulieve, however, maintains that its focus is on legalizing marijuana to reduce criminal arrests and eliminate unregulated products. The company denied having taken a position on the controversial hemp bill, despite allegations of lobbying efforts on related legislation.
The Republican Party of Florida has officially opposed the marijuana amendment, with the "Vote No" campaign actively disseminating materials to counties to encourage opposition.
Latinos in the state are showing much more conservative views on the issue than other demographics. The Miami Herald reported that a poll from Ipsos showed 56% of support for the measure, although a different one from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) put the figure at 47%.
Regardless, Latinos are far from any of those levels of support. The Ipsos poll showed that only 32% of respondents from this demographic would back the legalization of marijuana, compared to 55% of White and 65% of Black Floridians.
Another study, this one by FAU/Mainstreet Research, saw 30% of support for the measure and 45% opposition. "However, FAU researchers noted that the survey was not designed with representative samples of each smaller group in mind and that subsamples have higher margins of error," the Miami Herald noted.
A recent national poll had shown Latinos had a more conservative view regarding marijuana than other groups, but figures were much higher than Florida's.
According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, Latinos were the group with the most respondents who said marijuana should not be legal under any circumstance, with 16%. This compared to 7% of Blacks and 10% of Whites who gave the same answer.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
