Florida Supreme Court justices on Monday approved ballot language for a constitutional amendment that will ask Floridians in November whether they want to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 years or older.
The measure must get 60% approval to become law, which is the highest threshold for any ballot measure to be passed in the nation.
The official ballot summary as written “allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise,” and allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities “to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories.”
The Supreme Court stated:
“Our role is narrow—we assess only whether the amendment conforms to the constitutionally mandated single-subject requirement, whether the ballot summary meets the statutory standard for clarity, and whether the amendment is facially invalid under the federal
constitution. In light of those limited considerations, we approve the proposed amendment for placement on the ballot.”
The justices voted 5-2 in support of putting the amendment on the ballot, with Justices Charles Canady, John Curiel, Jamie Grosshans, Carlos Muniz and Jorge Labarga concurring.
Justices Renatha Francis and Meredith Sasso dissented.
The proposed amendment had been fiercely opposed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who claimed in a legal filing last year that the initiative “misleads voters in several key aspects.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who predicted in January that the court would put the proposal on the ballot, recently criticized the measure as having “the broadest language I’ve ever seen.”
The Florida Supreme Court is the final decision-maker determining whether a proposed constitutional amendment makes it on the ballot. Once a measure gathers enough signatures to qualify, the court is charged with determining that the language that will appear on the ballot is clear and limited to a single subject. It can reject measures that don’t meet legal standards, which happened in 2021 when a proposed constitutional amendment regarding the legalization of recreational cannabis came before the Supreme Court.
The 60% approval by voters may not be easy. A Florida Chamber of Commerce poll released in January found that 57% of Florida voters support legalizing recreational cannabis. But that wouldn’t pass. However, a University of North Florida survey conducted on November 30 of last year showed that 67% support the proposal.
Florida has had medical marijuana since 2016, when more than 71% of voters approved a constitutional amendment to make that legal.
Currently, 24 states have legalized recreational weed. They are: Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The campaign to get the measure on the ballot has been led by the Smart & Safe Florida political committee. It has spent more than $40 million to date to get more than a million valid signatures to qualify for the Supreme Court review (which this year was 891,523 signatures). Nearly all of Smart & Safe’s funding came from Trulieve, one of the country’s largest multi-state cannabis operators.
In a statement after the court made its announcement, Smart & Safe sent out a message on X with a “Yes on 3” symbol, as the proposal will be known as Amendment 3 on the November ballot. “We are pleased that the Court agreed that the ballot language was clear and correctly ruled in favor of allowing voters the chance to vote on this important initiative. We look forward to bringing our message of allowing adults to safely use cannabis for their own personal consumption to the voters of this state.”
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, who filed a legal brief opposing the proposed amendment with the Florida Supreme Court, blasted the court’s ruling.
“While we respectfully disagree with the court’s decision, the Florida Chamber will continue fighting to protect our constitution from out of state and special interests trying to buy their way into Florida’s Constitution,” said Mark Wilson, the president & CEO of the organization, in a statement. “Recreational drugs, like pigs, don’t belong in Florida’s Constitution.”
There’s no question that the companies who currently hold medical marijuana licenses are going to be among the leading cheerleaders for the amendment to get passed in November.
Matt Darin, the CEO of Curaleaf, said in a press release that since his company received its vertical license in 2016 in Florida, it now has 61 retail locations around the state. “We expect legal cannabis to effectively triple the size of the market in recent years, and are planning to open an additional 20-25 stores by the anticipated launch in June of 2025. This expanded capacity will allow us to be well positioned to serve a thriving adult use market, and to continue to support medical patients.”
House Speaker Paul Renner called the amendment “overly broad.”
“It looks innocuous, but then you start asking yourself, well, can you smoke on a child’s playground? Can you smoke in an elevator? Things that we restricted when cigarettes were concerned and again, the marijuana amendment is so overly broad to serve the self-interests of those who are going to grow it and make billions and billions of dollars off of it ….
“We’ve seen what’s happened in other states that have tried this,” Renner said. “They went too far, too fast.”
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
JimboXYZ says
Even if it’s on there, I will vote No. It’s bad enough the alcohol & tobacco abusers are out there & run from traffic accidents that we need this can of worms opened to determine who is impaired or not after they run from accountability & responsibility ? And I certainly don’t want anyone impaired on the job. Don’t want drugs anywhere around me, period. There’s enough of that already. Anyone’s Healthcare suffers for that pollution in the human body. If someone is medically cleared & qualified to use it, I don’t care how they get their dosage of THC, just as long they aren’t in a position to ruin another’s life. If they became medicated beyond competency and take it upon themselves to operate anything more than a TV remote on their couch, I don’t want that around me or anyone & anything I care about.
DaleL says
Whether legal or not, people who abuse drugs should be held responsible for their actions.
I’m just glad that we can vote on the issue. Imagine if America follows the lead of Russia and becomes a country in which elections are a sham and an authoritarian rules. I will vote for freedom, democracy, country over party.
endangered species says
haha wow ok then don’t drink coffee or caffeine, no nicotine, definitely no tylenol for Jimbo as he is against what he calls “drugs”. Jimbo is a purist no wine or even blood thinners only water and food for Jimbo. Natural plants are out of the question for Jimbo. Jimbo thinks 300 million people should be the same as him. I say hell no Jimbo go drink your water and read a banned book or something.
Funny how people will take 45 prescription drugs a day and be against plants.
Peoples healthcare is suffering from actual pollution you know like the stuff you burn everyday in your car or the stuff you throw away that just goes somewhere else in smaller and smaller pieces.
Reply to "endangered species" says
To “endangered species”
Maybe you’re too stoned all the time to take an informational deep dive into what happened in Colorado once marijuana was legalized.
By putting down another poster who only spoke his opinion on the topic, it showed you to be who and what you really are. Instead of honoring Jimbo’s post for what it is . . . his opinion, you had to make a mockery of it from your apparently marijuana-hazed life.
There’s nothing wrong with no coffee or caffeine, no nicotine or Tylenol. Nothing wrong with being a purist. Have you ever educated yourself on the Greek realists?
I didn’t read anything in Jimbo’s post about taking 45 prescription meds.
People’s healthcare is suffering from all the above. Most healthcare issues are directly related to lifestyle choices, and that includes: Coffee and other stimulants including energy drinks, nicotine, eating processed food full of glyphosate (look up Monsanto) as well as too much sugar, chemicals, GMO fake food which our bodies don’t recognize, and other fillers in our “food”. All the above end up causing vitamin and mineral deficiencies which then lead to compromised mental and physical health, but especially mental health. If you can rouse yourself from your haze, do some research into each vitamin B deficiency and the effects of said deficiency on mental health as well as physical health. It’s scary.
I for one would prefer to have a clear mind, be in shape physically so I can be physically active throughout my life, as well as be a completely productive member of society. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with having clarity so as to be a contributing member of society.
Healthy mind. Healthy body.
Then there are those who are DRAINS on society and think they’re much more evolved than the rest of us and who put the rest of us down because we prefer to be “purists”.
JimboXYZ says
I’ve lived my life that way for decades, seems to work for me, it works that way for others. What you described was really pain management, relatively medically necessary for OTC drugs. I’m not against OTC as there are times I’ve had to do that with an aspirin or whatever was helpful to manage a medical condition. When pain ever was that bad, I went to sleep, sleep is the opportunity for the body to “heal” itself. This vote is recreational drug abuse, is that out of boredom ? Then I suggest those folks find a hobby that is healthier. Why should the rest of us be in a position to hunt down & have the drug abuser arrested for running from accountable & responsible ? Those taking 45 Rx, why aren’t they cleared for the medically approved Cannabis ? They don’t get high, they have pain management. I see nothing wrong with the system as it stands. And a healthcare insurance should cover medically necessary cannabis like it does for any PDL that Rx drugs are available.
Yes the drug abuser percentage of the 330+ million Americans would be better served to be like me. Had a home invasion a few houses up the street from me here in Palm Coast. The adult felon & juveniles that perpetrated that are in prison for it, all of them ran from their $ 400 drug deal that never transpired for recreational use cannabis at the very least. You would be the 1st to ever complain about another having a concern over a neighbor that has the character to not pursue drug abuse in anyone’s best interests of a safer community. I’ve had others damage my property & run, whether they were impaired or not was never determined. But having to repair another’s damage regardless of impairment level is a victimization & bad feeling for anyone but the one that is not held accountable & responsible for their actions. We can go on back & forth about this, but I stand by my position to hold myself to a higher standard. Raise the bar for yourself, not lower it. Nobody was ever proud of themselves for failing to be a better version of themselves. I just see it as you’re either making the world better or you aren’t. If you aren’t I have no use for anyone not making the effort, don’t need them around, that the intent of the constitutional right to pursuit of life, liberty & happiness. Social contracts to get along with others. I don’t want a drug house next door. It’s bad enough in the last couple of days that a domestic dispute resulted in a brawl between 2 idiots over the same woman. FCSO wasn’t involved in that. But the neighbors car has a window that was broken. This time it was just throwing fists and a brick thru a window. Where do you think the next escalation goes ? Guns ? I didn’t buy property to have those types rent next door to me. I don’t even want their brand of trouble around me. Had I observed it happening in real time, FCSO would’ve been involved instead of hearing them try to recount the event, cleaning up heir own wounds & debris from that altercation. Tell me that the broken window of the vehicle, having to heal a bloody nose or busted lip is a prize for that ? And I can tell you that if gun play ever results, anyone is on their own until police arrive to do whatever it take to restore peace & safety. And in those moments until law enforcement arrives, what level of involvement may be required of me to ensure my rights are protected as the true victim as not involved. Connect the dots, it’s better that certain individuals are neither welcome nor even around. Some folks have bigger problems than others. And it’s because they are & always will be the village idiot(s), challenged by simply existing & co-existing wtih the rest of society.
Pogo says
@Boss Hog…
…and the distributors of alcohol drink are appalled; Boss Hog has culled enough working class voters (Floridians disenfranchised for felony convictions) to fix his regime in concrete, and drunks are customers first.
DaleL says
Pogo, your comment caused me to do a bit of research. I found that the organizations against legalizing THC/marijuana do include very self-interested folks.
1. The alcohol industry, marijuana is direct competition.
2. Pharmaceutical companies compensate anti-marijuana researchers. Pot is cheaper than painkillers and less addictive than opioids.
3. Police departments get federal grants to eradicate weed.
4. The prison-industrial complex would like to keep making money on building more prisons to fill with non-violent grass-smokers.
The federal government (DEA or Congress) must to reclassify THC/marijuana from a schedule one drug to a schedule three or four drug. At present the federal sentence for a first offense, though rarely enforced, for possession of just one marijuana plant or any marijuana is: Not less than 5 years in prison and a fine not more than $250,000.
JimboXYZ says
Wait until supply & demand reverse what anything costs ? And then there’s the point where cannabis becimes cocaine, becomes heroin & opioid abuse, Fentanyl & anything else the dealers come up with that is a premature death for self medication out of boredom. Prohibition didn’t work not because of the laws, it’s the abusers that failed prohibition. At the root of any failure is a weak abuser and those looking to profit off their character flaws. I get the individuals that are experiencing pain from cancer, an auto accident, other work related accidents & healthcare issues. They would need pain management. Abusing substances for entertainment, that just makes them a junkie. And when another’s constitutional rights to pursue life liberty & pursuit of happiness infringe on other’s constitutional rights to do the same, the moral high ground is to back the one that isn’t infinging upon the others. Alcoholics, their own relatives & families don’t want to be around them, what makes anyone think that others want to take on that burden. Find another hobby that doesn’t put others at risk. Because that’s what recreational is. Go ride a bike, play a musical instrument, even watch TV or take a nap is better than getting doped up. Stimulate the mind with learning & knowledge instead of raising vital for artificially stimulants with toxic drugs.
I’ve heard so many times form those that beat their addictions, they reflect back on how much time & money they wasted pursuing recreational drug abuse. The whole system of the illegal drugs is a cheat. Someone buys pot, they look to defray that cost, so they start cutting the purity of their inventory, look to sell it to another at market prices to buy the next purer fix to cut and pay for their habit. Liars & cheats is what they are, they seek to get as many others on board with their activities, the more like them the merrier. Those types need to own themselves, that’s why they arm themselves so that they don’t get robbed of their inventory by an abuser/dealer that is equally as bad as they are. Look at their base motives, money over morals & integrity. The human race is better off without those types, always has been. And they use every spin in the book to justify what they’re truly about. Seek to debate and then abuse the medical necessity with the recreational. Give a human being an inch, they’ll stretch that & take the mile. In a war on rights, taking back the inch one gives and we have Bunnell drive by shootings in Palm Coast, if that doesn’t originate in Palm Coast just the same.
Can’t wait to hear the truth come out on this one ? Or even the Circle K murders that is going to trial. It just keeps getting better doesn’t it ?
https://flaglerlive.com/bunnell-shooting-closed/
https://flaglerlive.com/circle-k-trial-motions/
Joe D says
I’m kind of on the fence with RECREATIONAL use, but once the Legislature sees the additional sales tax revenue (as much as 10%-15% Marijuana add on sales tax in SOME states), meaning additional income of $millions+ /year for the State of Florida….watch them SOFTEN their opposition.
However, with the high bar of 60% voter approval to pass, we might still not see it adopted. The “over 65” crew (large populations in Florida), still have a somewhat negative 1960-1970’s “hippie” view of RECREATIONAL USE.
If there was a ballot reason to draw out VOTERS in Florida, especially with those disillusioned by the choice of Presidential candidates …this ballot question MIGHT do it!
Laurel says
Man oh man, everyone today knows everything about the “over 65 crew.”
As an individual over 65, I can tell you that most everyone I knew was into “RECREATIONAL USE.” But you know how we think, don’t you?
In fact, if you told me 50 years ago that this would still be an issue, I’d have thought you crazy!
Skibum says
I supported the medical marijuana ballot initiative because there has been plenty of evidence of beneficial medical treatments for some individuals using medical marijuana in recent years. But I am not supportive of widespread legalization of marijuana because I know for a fact that legalization in other states only added to the problem of impaired drivers on the roads. That is certainly not a good thing. Even before I retired from my law enforcement career at the end of 2012, studies showed that there was a higher percentage of impaired drivers that had a combination of alcohol AND drugs in their system when arrested for DUI, and that percentage kept creeping up year after year. If FL goes the way other states have in allowing legalized use of marijuana, we can expect to have even more problems on our states roadways than we already have now. Aren’t our roads and highways already dangerous enough with all of the crazy drivers who think they are in the Daytona 500 every time they get behind the wheel of an automobile? I believe that a vote to decriminalize marijuana would be a vote to add a level of death and destruction on our highways that we are not prepared for, and we certainly do not have sufficient levels of state troopers and county deputies to keep the aggressive, dangerous drivers at bay even now. I will vote NO!
Laurel says
Skibum: I know. Isn’t it annoying when the stoned guy in front of you is doing 25 in a 50? Bothers me.
It is completely illogical to me that pot shouldn’t be legal, but alcohol is. Are they drugs? Yes. Do they effect the brain? Yes, but in very different ways. Alcohol is far more serious as a drug that causes destructive behavior.
Now, to talk about drugs. We laughed our asses off when a friend of ours told us how he literally woke up in line at Bass Pro Shop. Then, we realized how awful that was! He was on Ambien, which was prescribed for him, and he actually drove and went shopping while still asleep! Yet, I see no attempt to change the laws regarding such a drug. Not a peep.
I’m not into pot anymore, and was only a minor fan way back when, but to “regulate” it simply doesn’t work. Never did, never will. I think if someone wants a couple plants in their yard, so be it. Hopefully that day will come, and we stop this nonsense.
I will vote YES!
Skibum says
Laurel, I look forward to reading your comments, and like this one, they tend to offer me a degree of levity and understanding that I sometimes do not have from personal experience. I have never been a pot smoker, although I have to admit that when I was a fresh faced police officer in Los Angeles when I was 21, I went to see Seals & Croft perform live at the Greek Theater in L.A. It was a packed crowd and there was so much marijuana smoke wafting throughout the audience that I most likely did get a contact high just trying to breathe what little oxygen was mixing with the heavy clouds of pot smoke while I sat there for two solid hours. My experience with pot smokers is somewhat different than what you obviously have experienced or know about. Your comment about someone driving and smoking pot going way under the speed limit, for example, made me smile because I too have heard that more than a few times before. While pot smokers may usually tend to be non-violent or aggressive when under the influence of marijuana, they can still be a danger to others when behind the wheel. They most certainly exhibit some of the very same poor driving red flags to a police officer that a driver who has had too much to drink has, like failure to stay in their lane, slow response to traffic signs and lights, and during roadside sobriety tests they fail many of the same tests whether they are high on marijuana or drunk. I don’t discount your knowledge and personal experience, and to your point I do agree with you that alcohol is a much larger issue in society , probably because it is legal and much more widely abused. And abused by many of the same people in elected positions who drive to a bar and have drinks after voting down legislation to legalize pot because they are “against drugs” LOL. I still, however, cannot get past my own experience dealing with the many impaired drivers I stopped and arrested who were under the influence of pot and could have easily injured or killed someone had I not by chance been there to intervene. I think the marijuana amendment is likely to pass here in FL, but my vote will simply be my personal effort against making our roads less safe than they already are.
Laurel says
Skibum: You’re still my BFF even when we disagree! Actually, I cannot argue with you here, but in your previous post, you referred to dangerous drivers with a mixture of alcohol and pot. Bad combo. Understand, I do not believe anyone should drive under the influence of any mind altering drug, whether it causes aggressive or passive behavior. I’ve had a couple of times when I’ve had a couple Manhattans at home, then thought “Geeze, what if I had to drive someone to the hospital now!” Uber or taxi time, I guess.
The thing is, it’s been here all along. Nothing new. The only difference is that some young man or woman isn’t going to prison for holding some damn plant leaves. There are much more lethal plants, even in our yards, that are legal.
I did tell you about the time a friend of mine sat at a stop sign waiting for it to turn green, right?
melly says
Only nanny-state supporters and the ill-informed are against pot legalization at this point. The medical marijuana program only goes so far–it is prohibitively expensive for many who need it, meaning they continue to have to pursue pot in the now-deadly black market, where fentanyl rules.
I trust that the ill-informed will educate themselves to these legitimate concerns. The nanny state supporters just need to sit down and butt out.
JC says
I’ll vote yes, but I won’t smoke it.
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
No one has ever died from smoking or ingesting marijuana which has been around a lot longer than any of the naysayers responding to FlaglerLive. If something happened later then it’s no different than someone who drinks or abuses prescription meds. Some of you are thinking that no one does it now and that will open a can of worms. News is other States have had legalization for years now and laugh all the way to the bank while States like Florida have their hands out for Federal dollars. You don’t want to use cannabis that’s your choice and your Vote, yet don’t chastise those you do. If you think it’s still the “hippies” that do it then look around, more than a few retirees right here in Flagler County could debate you. All one has to do is go to any dispensary here for medical patients and see the cross of people that visit them. From the 20’s to 100 years old all enjoying natures gift, this includes all races, political parties and rich or not.
Skibum says
Your assertion that “No one has ever died from smoking or ingesting marijuana” is completely false. Had you said that YOU never say anyone die from smoking or ingesting marijuana, I could have believed that, but to boldly put out there a blanket statement that marijuana has never killed anyone, anywhere is as untrue as saying the world is flat. More and more impaired drivers are found to be not drunk at all, just high on drugs, more often than not on marijuana, or a combination of marijuana and alcohol. Maybe you are completely oblivious to the fact that just over the past several years, numerous highway traffic fatalities have been attributed to drivers who had marijuana in their system. Some of those drivers who were high on marijuana didn’t die themselves, they killed others. So please educate yourself with facts about the dangers of recreational marijuana because when someone smokes or ingests marijuana and gets behind the wheel of a car, they can be just as dangerous as someone who drinks alcohol and then gets in the driver’s seat. Alcohol and drugs can and do kill innocent people on a regular basis in the U.S. It is important for everyone to educate themselves about marijuana, particularly when there will be a forthcoming amendment on the ballot that decriminalizes it because far too many people have a misperception that it is completely harmless.
Pierre Tristam says
Nephew’s comment is accurate, and in its first sentences differentiates between the consumption of marijuana itself–which, aside from freak exceptions that can be counted on one hand–does not lead to overdose deaths, and the irresponsible consequences of using marijuana then driving, which can be deadly, though still nowhere near those of alcohol, which, incidentally, has none of the beneficial effects of marijuana. Continuing to criminalize the use of pot is like the old state laws that criminalized sodomy: Scalia fabrications aside, they were based on morally and constitutionally untenable reasoning.
Skibum says
Unfortunately, the irresponsible consequences of using marijuana and driving are sadly becoming more and more common as the use of recreational marijuana is legalized. The latest example happened just a day ago in Flagler Beach, and resulted in serious injuries to an innocent motorist, and the arrest of the drunk driver who had also been smoking pot.
JimboXYZ says
Is the freak exceptions the rare misery that is worth preventing. It’s a debate of whether a drunk driver that actually makes it home safely is no worse than the cannabis abuser. And both were equally as bad for the potential. Like the impaired Rx driver, there are humans that simply can’t be trusted to exercise judgement, others might be perfectly capable of self medicating. The police usually end up being the one that delivers the bad news that a loved one isn’t ever coming home again. Then there’s a financial compensation process that costs the rest of us just the same. Better to not be remorsefully sorry than anyone have to face the day they are remorsefully sorry ? And I certainly don’t want to any higher insurance premiums for higher risks at the very least. Imagine your own family member stealing & pawning to feed their heads for their abusive addictions ? I certainly don’t wan to wake up to an intruder in my home trying the system like that. Once of that is one too many times.
Laurel says
Legislating cannabis consumption is about as successful as was legislating alcohol consumption during prohibition. Actually, prohibition was extremely dangerous as people created speakeasies, and made wood alcohol which caused horrendous physical damage and death to the drinkers.
Go ask a pharmacist how many everyday drugs have warnings not to operate machinery while using. Same for over the counter drugs. Would you think twice about popping an antihistamine to calm your allergy and hopping into a car? Yet, antihistamines are often used for drowsiness to promote sleep. Drugs like Ambien and Halcyon are known to cause people to sleepwalk, and even drive while fully asleep.
Legalizing recreational marijuana is not going to bring people out of the woodwork and on to the roads. Those who do that are already there. It would be much better to educate people with the truth, than to misinform people with fearful propaganda. Maybe that way we could make people think, and behave in a more responsible manner.
Leila says
Years ago I used to love to visit the incredibly beautiful northwest. Seattle was one of my favorite cities. Since legalizing pot, the air there is so thick with it that it has not only destroyed a once thriving city, but its tourism as well.
Portland is reversing the legalization of drugs because of similar problems. This will be the end of many good things here.
Pierre Tristam says
We should not confuse the legalization of heroin and fentanyl with the legalization of pot. Portland’s problems result not even necessarily from the legalization of the harder drugs, but from the absence of sufficient and serious parallel services. Pot’s legalization in the states that have enacted it has not had a similar effect, at least none as damaging as wherever alcohol is legal, and no one, thankfully, is suggesting we should ban alcohol. If anything, it should be required prior to attendance of local school board and council meetings.
Laurel says
Leila: Seattle is not destroyed.
Actually, these days people use vaping apparatuses, with batteries instead of matches and pipes, or rolled joints, and the smoke is nominal.
dave says
Light them up folks, but first can they can’t make a joint that doesn’t have that horrible smell.
Laurel says
Dave: Nowhere near as bad as a cigar! That’s the worst.
Kevin says
Sorry Dude, and Dudettes . I vote No. we already have too many people with too functioning brain cells.
Laurel says
Kevin: Read your comment again.
lol!
HayRide says
so everybody that smoked in the ’70s is now 70 and votes, weed comes up for a vote and passes, jeez what a surprise.
we’ve discovered that cigarette smoke causes cancer so we see cigarette smoking has surely declined, however, everybody has a new hobby, SMOKING POT. smoke in your lungs is smoke in your lungs so we will now have a new generation with smoke-caused cancer.
We don’t need this here in this state, there are already too many bums under all the bridges and begging at stoplights. (lucky we are not in Miami where they spit on your windshield then offer to clean it for a tip), too many deadbeats don’t need one more way for a high
Laurel says
Okay, Hayride, that was interesting! I agree that smoking pot just may be as lethal as smoking cigarettes for the lungs, and I think it should not be done in public spaces, or around kids or pets. Smoking is a choice, and should be done away from those who do not want to be, or should not be, effected.
So, for the rest of your comment, how in the hell did you get to “bums under all the bridges?” Are you implying that us 70 year olds, who smoked in the 70’s are all now “begging at stop lights?” What drugs are you on?
Dennis C Rathsam says
Ive smoked pot since 1969. Worked a part time job, since I was 13. I graduated high school, went to collge for a few years, while my band played up & down the Jersey Coast to Greenwood Lake. Got married worked for GM for 33 years, 8 years of them I was still in the band. Most gig nights I slept in the parking lot, my partner would wake me up if I was still sleeping. Pot didnt kill me, it made me smile, & sleep like a baby. After the band broke up, on weekends I worked in an Italian deli, Sunday I helped my buddy with his bread route 4 oclock in the morning to 9:30, then I went to the deli till 3pm! Puffing all the way. I owned 3 homes in P/C, just sold one I paid $117k for $405k….All I have left is 2 homes and a building lakefront lot. I sold my 1969 Z/28 back in 2017, I couldnt drive the stick shift anymore with fake knees! Then I got a new Corvette, with the money I made onthe Z. I just turned 65 & I was cloud nine! Ill be 71 in April, feel good, big smile happy happy happy. Not bad for a POTHEAD!
Laurel says
Can anyone tell me where Dennis went, and what did this guy do with him?
Stacey Smith says
The comments about driving should be considered for ALL medication. Most anti- depressants come with the warning of not operating machines or driving a car, yet NO ONE listens to THAT advice. How many people are taking sleep medication and it is still in their system in the morning? How many people do you know who take anti-depressants? It should be allowed to the individual person how to regulate what goes into their body and then be responsible.
A Concerned Observer says
I will vote NO on any bills to legalize recreational use of marijuana. I will vote against any legislators who campaign for legalizing the recreational use of marijuana (or heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, crystal meth or the rest). As for those vehemently in favor of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, I can only say “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” for they are a postcard for its negative effects of mental acuity. For those who equate marijuana use to a glass of wine with a meal, I can only ask what flavor of marijuana pairs with fish or beef? I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s and I’ve never tried marijuana, even having spending a year in “The Golden Triangle”. Some may say I am against it’s use because I’ve never tried it. Please refer to my comment of its “effects of mental acuity”. Game, Set and Match…
Laurel says
Concerned: So you won your own argument. Who else was playing?
“For those who equate marijuana use to a glass of wine with a meal, I can only ask what flavor of marijuana pairs with fish or beef?” Pretty much any pot goes well with any good meal.
Father, you need not forgive me for I did know exactly what I did. Thanks anyway! By the way, you gave us some interesting plants, that don’t even need processing or chemical additives. Thanks again!
A Concerned Observer says
Currently, thirty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have all legalized the use of marijuana to some degree. Yet the possession, distribution or sale of marijuana remains illegal under federal law, which means any contact with money that can be traced back to state marijuana operations could be considered money laundering and expose a bank to significant legal, operational and regulatory risk.
https://www.aba.com/advocacy/our-issues/cannabis