Florida’s other big November vote: will the state legalize weed?

The push to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida ramped up this week. Campaigners bankrolled by dominant players in the cannabis and CBD marketplace launched a $5m advertising blitz in support of a ballot measure in November's election that has so far been overshadowed by publicity for the one on abortion rights.

Four commercials featuring retired military personnel, business owners, law enforcement officers and regular citizens began appearing on television, radio and the internet, leaning in heavily to themes campaigners believe will appeal to the 60% of voters amendment 3 needs to pass.

And while the financial backers of the Smart & Safe Florida political advocacy committee, most prominently Trulieve, a major operator of marijuana dispensaries, stand to harvest far greater profits if the Vote Yes campaign is successful, there is little to no organized resistance.

Florida's Republican party passed a resolution opposing it, and the state's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, says he is concerned about the smell. But outside of that, nobody has yet set up any group or campaign to counter the tens of millions of dollars and corporate might invested by Trulieve and its allies, a coalition of other invested industry partners.

"Nobody is selling 'no'. They don't make any money selling no," said John Michael Pierobon, vice-chair of the Tobacco Free Partnership of Broward county.

"The big wealth transfer is from the poor people that are going to be smoking pot, because the temptation is there, to the rich people that own the pot companies. It's all about corporate greed."

Pierobon said it was difficult to effectively counter the arguments promoted by Smart & Safe Florida with such a "lopsided" platform.