Florida Attorney General Implies Voters Are Not Too Bright, Deceived By 'Monopolistic' Weed Giant To Legalize Cannabis

Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody is trying her best to keep a constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use cannabis off the state's 2024 ballot. Her tactics of late have included insulting the intelligence of her fellow Floridians by suggesting that cannot comprehend the fact that if legalization passes in Florida, it will still be illegal federally. 

Moody implied that voters who support legalization are buying into what she called a “reckless” proposal supported by the marijuana giant and “monopolistic” Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TCNNF. Indeed, Trulieve is the primary financial supporter behind Smart & Safe Florida's (SSF) citizen-led petition with more than $39 million in contributions.

One of Moody’s main complaints about the ballot initiative proposal is that is does not explicitly spell out the fact that cannabis is illegal at the federal level, which she has called "misleading.”

To counter that point, SSF attorneys pointed out in their 99-page brief filed July 19 that the text of the amendment itself provides that “Nothing in this section changes federal law or requires the violation of federal law or purports to give immunity under federal law.” 

Blame It On Trulieve

Moody still insists that Trulieve has hoodwinked voters.

“In its pursuit of a larger customer base and greater profits, Trulieve has invited millions of Floridians to join it in reckless violation of federal criminal law,” Moody wrote in a new brief submitted to the state Supreme Court on Wednesday after having been given several extensions.

Trulieve has denied these allegations and has argued that the amendment is clear and unambiguous. The company as well as Safe and Smart Florida have also argue that the amendment would provide significant benefits to the state of Florida, including increased tax revenue and job creation

Smart and Safe, which is clearly smarter than Moody gives them credit for, responded to her claim about their ignorance of federal law, saying it “strains credulity well past the breaking point to think that the average voter is unaware that marijuana is illegal at the federal level.”

Most Of Us Are Not Too Bright, According To Moody

The Attorney General replied to SSF that Florida voters, and most of the rest of us, are as thick as bricks.

“Most Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice,” Moody wrote, citing a 2018 Newsweek article. “And the sponsor fails to acknowledge its own, and the press’s responsibility for sowing public misperception about that very fact. If anything, most reasonable voters would not assume that a national corporation like Trulieve would openly and notoriously violate federal criminal law.”

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