TAMPA, Fla. — Medical marijuana is already legal in Florida. If enough voters say yes come election day, anyone 21 and up can walk into those dispensaries and purchase up to three ounces of marijuana.
On April 1st, the Florida Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to put legalizing marijuana on the November ballot.
Florida would become the 25th state to legalize marijuana.
Luke Niforatos opposes the idea. That's because he's from Colorado, and what he's seen since it was legalized isn't appealing.
"I don't think this is something that Florida wants to have. More drug use, more addiction at a time when we're trying to deal with the opioid crisis and protect our families," he said.
On the other hand, Dr. Martha Rosenthal, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, sees it as a big deal.
"It's exciting. It's big news. It's legal for adult use in 24 states. Over half of Americans live in a state with legal adult use. So I think the tide is turning," she said.
We'll see this similar disagreement play out come election day. 60% of voters have to say yes for it to pass.
If passed, medical marijuana centers and other state-licensed centers can grow, process, and sell marijuana; no medical card is required.
Niforatos is a part of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group focused on fighting the growth of marijuana.
"I'm concerned about the impact on kids. I'm also concerned about the impact on our roads," he said.
The potency of marijuana is the root of his concern.
"Gummy bears, candies, concentrates, waxes, all targeting our kids with a potency. Now that's up to 99% potency of THC. That's the ingredient that gets you high. 99% versus 3% in the Woodstock days. So we're not talking about hippies anymore," he added.
However, Rosenthal feels that legalizing it could be safer.
"If you don't have your medical card here in Florida, and you want cannabis, you're getting it from a dealer, and you do not know what you're getting any time. You're getting an illegal drug from an illegal source, and we do see fentanyl showing up certainly in the cocaine supply. But we see it sometimes showing up in the cannabis supply," she said.
Rosenthal is the Director of the Cannabis Research, Education, and Workforce Initiative (CREW) at FGCU and the author of Drugs: Mind, Body, and Society. She says if legalized, she feels a big step towards safety starts with education.
"There's some people who believe there's no safe use. It's terrible. It causes schizophrenia. They're wrong. So, I would really support as part of this some education," she said.
Our legislators would have the final say over how it is regulated if the ballot measure is approved.
