WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republican senator. Rick Scott of Florida says he will vote in November against a ballot amendment to legalize recreational marijuana in his state, a deeply personal decision based on his brother’s long history of addiction.
The Florida senator and former governor said he watched his brother Roger Scott start smoking marijuana when he was a teenager and then struggle with substance use for the rest of his life.
“People end up with addictive personalities, and that’s what happened,” Scott said in an interview. “It messes up your life, and that’s why I’ve never supported drug legalization.”
When Roger Scott died in April at age 67, the cause was not substance abuse but rather “a life of drugs and alcohol” that caught up with him, the senator said. He lived in an apartment in Dallas, Texas, where he served a prison sentence in 1990 for misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs, court records show.
Rick Scott became wealthy as a lawyer and healthcare executive before entering politics. Already running for re-election, he lamented that his brother had a “difficult life” and says it all started with marijuana.
Scott’s negative vote on marijuana is in line with other state and national Republicans who question whether marijuana leads to the use of other, riskier substances.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse included on a 2019 webpage that most cannabis users do not use “harder substances,” but a statement from the agency also said that use of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, can cause brain changes that could make a person more likely to develop dependence on other drugs.
Amie Goodin, who researches marijuana safety at the University of Florida, said studies have found that those who use riskier drugs used to use marijuana previously, but that research has not established whether marijuana “is actually the trigger” for someone to seek out more powerful substances. .
Florida’s ballot initiative would legalize recreational marijuana use if the amendment receives 60% or more yes votes in November. It would also require the Florida Legislature to establish regulations and a framework for production and sales. Florida is among 38 states that have legalized medical marijuana and would join 24 others that have legalized recreational use.
Scott opposes this change along with the Florida Republican Party, which formally announced its opposition in early May. They claim the amendment “would benefit powerful marijuana special interests while putting children at risk and endangering Florida’s business and tourism climate.”
The amendment’s sponsor, Smart & Safe Florida, said on its website that passage would allow Floridians to have “accountability, transparency and regulations” in place. Among other benefits, this could ensure that legal cannabis will not be mixed with unknown and potentially dangerous chemicals, he said.
Voters approved medical marijuana when Scott was governor, but Scott and the Legislature imposed strict restrictions on its use, including a ban on smokable marijuana. Cannabis advocates then sued and a court agreed to allow smokable medical marijuana shortly before Scott left office. His successor, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, chose not to appeal.
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Brendan Farrington contributed to this report from Tallahassee, Florida.
