Ron DeSantis Blasts Florida's Cannabis Legalization Ballot At RNC: It Would Allow '80 Joints' A Day, Affecting Free Speech And Gun Rights

Author: Maureen Meehan | July 17, 2024 05:53pm

Governor Ron DeSantis went there at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee on Wednesday: He used his platform to rail against Florida's upcoming vote to legalize recreational marijuana telling his comrades that if weed is legalized, people will be able to possess practically limitless amounts of the stuff.    

"It gives you a limitless constitutional right to possess and smoke. I think it's up to like, what, 40 joints, is that the three ounces would be 40? More than that, 80 joints. Something like that," he said.

In fact, he noted that if the cannabis legalization ballot wins, marijuana rights will surpass the constitutional guarantees of the First and Second Amendments concerning free speech and gun ownership, respectively. And that’s a statement he’s already made in the past.

Read Also: DeSantis Says Cannabis Legalization Amendment Will Protect Weed Rights Better Than 1st, 2nd Amendments Protect Free Speech, Gun Rights

Counting Joints

The language in the legalization initiative, known as Amendment 3, would allow people to possess three ounces of flower or five grams of concentrate, which translates to roughly 27 joints per ounce according to the Governor's math.

"I think you're going to see people, you will be able to bring 20 joints to an elementary school. Is that really going to be good for the state of Florida? I don't think so," DeSantis said in June.

The governor has issued similar warnings about the dangers of cannabis legalization, but the number of joints he references seems to increase with each tirade, noted Florida Politics, which first reported this story from the RNC.

Smoky Restaurants

DeSantis went on to paint a scenario of unchecked public weed consumption, including in private businesses such as restaurants, which he claimed would be difficult to regulate due to the amendment’s broad language.

"I think you're talking about going downtown somewhere, going to restaurants, all this —you are going to see this. And law enforcement's not going to want to police it at all," he said. "I've had some restaurant guys [say], ‘Well, I won't let them use it in my restaurant,’" DeSantis continued. "Well, I'm not sure you're going to be able to do that, given how broad it is."

DeSantis also repeated a complaint that seems to have become the bane of his existence: the smell.

"You go to places like Denver. It smells like marijuana," he told the crowd. "It's not been good for quality of life. So that's just the reality. We've seen in in practice in a lot of places. It hasn't delivered what they said it would deliver."

During his speech, DeSantis also linked marijuana legalization with another initiative, Amendment 2, on expanding abortion access. He called on Florida Republicans assembled in Milwaukee to oppose both measures in order to maintain conservative values.

Now Read:

• Ron DeSantis, Florida’s GOP And Hemp Industry Pile On To Defeat Marijuana Legalization

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Wikimedia Commons and Kindel Media on Pexels

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