Florida AG Goes After Trulieve CEO As She Lays Out Opposition To Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure

Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody submitted a brief to the state Supreme Court outlining the reasons why she believes cannabis legalization should not appear on the 2024 ballot. In doing so, she expressed her disdain for one of Florida's largest cannabis companies,

Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TCNNF.

What happened: After having been granted a two-week extension, AG Moody laid out her rationale on why cannabis legalization should not go before the electorate. Moody says, the initiative does not tell voters that weed is illegal under federal law, which could possibly expose people to “devastating criminal liability,” though this has never happened that we know of in the dozens of legal cannabis states.

Then she started on Trulieve. What Moody referred to as "rampant misinformation" being peddled by the press and the initiative's "supporter," clearly referring to Trulieve, includes an accusation that the initiative is misleading because rather than expanding cannabis access, robust competition and therefore lower prices, the “proposed amendment would not change that.”

It's no secret that Trulieve has poured at least $35 million into the campaign.

“By limiting an individual’s personal possession of marijuana to 3 ounces, the amendment aids corporate interests like Trulieve in entrenching their monopoly of the marijuana market.”

Moody accused Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers of publicly misrepresenting the ballot proposal in a June 1 press release by the company.

“Our investment demonstrates our firm belief that Floridians are ready to experience the freedom to use cannabis for personal consumption; a freedom which is currently enjoyed by more than half of America’s adults,” Rivers said. “With over 965,000 validated signatures from nearly every part of our state, it is clear these voters share that belief.”

Moody argued that River’s comments are misleading and have “made things worse” because “none of that is true.”

Cannabis Business Times notes that Kim Rivers does not feel attacked by the AG's remarks.

The AG noted that the proposal is misleading because it fails to “mention that the Department of Health will lack the same constitutional regulatory authority in the recreational marijuana field that it currently has in the medical marijuana field,” and it “fails to disclose that there would be a substantial period when [medical cannabis dispensaries] engage in the unregulated trade of recreational marijuana.”

Meanwhile, as of last month, Smart & Safe Florida collected more than enough signatures to get the legalization initiative on the November ballot.

Read more at Cannabis Business Times

Photo: Ashley Moody and Kim Rivers, by Stacy Ferris Prato on Wikipedia and courtesy of Kim Rivers Twitter