Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a 2024 presidential candidate, is suggesting that the increase in medical marijuana patients in his state is partly due people using the law as a “pretext” for recreational cannabis use.
Even so, he said he supports a free market approach to all industries, including medical cannabis—despite recently backing a dramatic licensing renewal fee increase that’s facing strong opposition from the state’s limited number of medical marijuana businesses.
At a campaign event in Iowa on Thursday, DeSantis was asked about marijuana policy as part of a panel discussion that also featured Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).
The candidate noted that Florida voters enacted medical marijuana legalization as a constitutional amendment in 2016, and he said there’s “just been an increase in licenses,” which corresponds with the law that calls for additional licensure as the patient population grows.
“I think that that’s going to actually change as more people are coming into the market,” he said.
But DeSantis then questioned patients’ motives for entering the program, asking “how much of that is medicinal versus how much of it is that’s the pretext for [non-medical use]?”
“I don’t know.
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