Fried says marijuana industry needs overhaul if adult-use pot approved by Florida voters

Just days after formally endorsing a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana in Florida, the state's Democratic Party laid out plans for overhauling a statewide cannabis system in place for almost a decade.

The pitch Tuesday by Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried sets out a likely clash with Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature if Amendment 3 is approved by the required more than 60% of voters in November.

DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party oppose the amendment and are behind aggressive campaigns aimed at defeating the amendment.

Similarly, DeSantis and the GOP oppose Amendment 4, an abortion rights measure going before voters, which the Florida Democratic Party’s executive committee also formally endorsed on Saturday.

Amendment 4 would overturn Florida’s current law prohibiting most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. If the amendment is approved, most abortions would be allowed up until fetal viability, usually at 24 weeks, the standard in place before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Fried challenges DeSantis' 'free state of Florida' claim

“This is about freedom, this is about (the) opportunity to make sure that we go back to the libertarian state that we always have been,” said Fried, before lifting a phrase often used by Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz. “Mind your own business.”

Polls show that both the marijuana measure and abortion rights proposal are supported by a majority of voters, but whether they will clear the 60% threshold remains unclear.

Fried, though, acknowledged that even if Amendments 3 and 4 are approved by voters, GOP leaders in the Legislature will be positioned to set strict limits on how the new marijuana and abortion access amendments are implemented in the state.

On the marijuana measure, Fried called for sweeping changes to a state regulatory structure, parts of which date to 2014 and the Florida Legislature’s first approval of a “non-intoxicating” THC product.

Fried said that if Amendment 3 is approved, anyone held in county jail on misdemeanor charges of possession of 20 grams of marijuana or less should be immediately freed and have their records cleared.

System reboot called for

The state’s vertical distribution system, which requires that the same company grow, process and distribute cannabis products to obtain one of the state’s coveted licenses, also needs dramatic change, Fried said, with the goal of opening potentially one of the nation’s largest marijuana markets to more companies.

Fried, a former marijuana industry lobbyist and Florida's statewide-elected agriculture commissioner in 2019-23, said lawmakers should refrain from trying to bar smokeable marijuana or impose restrictions on homegrown cannabis.

And she said the powerful hemp industry should be encouraged to participate in the expanding cannabis world, should Amendment 3 be approved.

DeSantis sows doubt In uphill fight to defeat abortion, marijuana measures, DeSantis throws around bold claims

Cash sought for fight Florida Gov. DeSantis launches Freedom Fund, will fight abortion, marijuana measures

The Democratic party chief also sees the general popularity of the two amendments as helping steer voters to her party’s candidates. Republicans hold supermajorities in the state House and Senate, and electing more Democrats to blunt GOP lawmakers from interfering with the intention of voters is part of the party’s pitch this fall, she acknowledged.

“If you have spent the time coming out to vote … and all of a sudden the Legislature comes in and says, ‘not so fast,’ we’re going to make sure there are caps on the potency of the THC products ... or they say that a dispensary can’t be within five miles of a school,” Fried said. “Or they ban smokeable products, because DeSantis has been talking about the odor of marijuana.”

Fried concluded: “If in fact, we are able to break the supermajorities in the Legislature and get more Democrats elected, there are enough Republicans in the Legislature who are scared to speak up and speak out against leadership to side with Democrats to make sure the amendments are property executed.

"But that takes voters getting out to the ballot box.”

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected], or on X at @JKennedyReport.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Democrats see clash with DeSantis if amendments 3, 4 approved