A judge dismisses a challenge to a Florida DOT ad opposing the cannabis amendment

Share
pot plants
Cannabis plants at a marijuana grow house. By St. Pete Police (April 2016).

©2024 The News Service of Florida

A Leon County circuit judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by incoming Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, D-Sunny Isles Beach, that alleged the Florida Department of Transportation improperly spent state money to oppose a ballot measure that would allow recreational use of marijuana.

In a two-page order, Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey granted a request by the department to dismiss the lawsuit, which stemmed from a television ad the agency has recently sponsored about the dangers of driving after using marijuana.

Pizzo filed the lawsuit Oct. 4 and sought an injunction, contending that the department “does not have the unilateral authority to pick sides and spend tax dollars to advocate against Amendment 3 (the ballot proposal).”

The lawsuit said the ad “specifically warns that ‘DUI crashes increase in states with legalized marijuana putting everyone at risk.”

But Dempsey wrote, in part, that state law gives the department “budgetary authority to spend funds on public service commercials, and the commercial in question does not mention Amendment 3, voting or the election.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis is helping lead efforts to defeat the proposed amendment during the Nov. 5 election.

His administration also has spurred controversy by running ads that critics contend improperly are designed to defeat a separate ballot proposal on abortion rights.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

The Scoop: Thur. May 29, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

WMNF headlines including Florida hurricane season, federal support, Pinellas town...

University of Florida
The Florida higher ed Board of Governors will consider UF’s pick for president, Santa Ono

Santa Ono has been picked as president of the University...

Florida Flag Gulfport
A Florida legislature joint budget panel will make changes

A joint Florida House and Senate panel will meet next...

stripper
A challenge to Florida’s stripper age law is dropped

A challenge has been dropped to a Florida law that...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

It's The Music Thursday
It's The Music Thursday