Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been in a snit since Monday’s Supreme Court decision that two state constitutional amendments — legal cannabis and abortion access — can be placed on the ballot for all to decide upon.
“Once voters figure out how radical both of those are, they’re going to fail,” DeSantis said at a press event on Thursday. “They are very, very extreme.” DeSantis predicted that when they come up for a vote in the November 2024 election, they will not garner the 60% voter threshold required to become law.
Calling into question Floridians ability to read, DeSantis said voters have developed a skepticism for “these amendments generally because they’re always written in ways that are confusing,” he said. “You don’t necessarily know what the intent’s going to be. So I think there’s a certain segment of voters, they default. Just vote ‘no’ on these things.”
It is worth noting DeSantis appointed five of the seven Supreme Court justices who took Monday’s decision on the two amendments.
Several years ago, when he finished filling the Supreme Court and appointed Attorney General Ashley Moody, who regularly criticized the cannabis initiative, the governor proudly proclaimed he created the most conservative court in the nation.
And now, in one fell swoop, these conservative judges for reasons known to themselves, took a significant step toward undoing some of the nation’s strictest abortion restrictions and gave a big green checkmark to recreational cannabis, both of which, if approved in November, will be enshrined in the Florida Constitution.
“The weed one is not just to decriminalize, it’s basically a license to have it anywhere you want,” DeSantis said. “No time, place and manner restrictions. This state will start to smell like marijuana in our cities and counties. It will reduce the quality of life.”
If the 2016 voter approval of medical marijuana by one of largest margins in the country — fully 71% — is any measure, one would assume that Floridians will likely do the same this coming November.
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