A GOP congressman who has long advocated for marijuana reform says he’ll be voting against a Florida legalization initiative at the ballot this November, arguing that the issue shouldn’t be handled as a constitutional amendment.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), one of only a handful of Republican members to ever vote in favor of a federal cannabis legalization bill, didn’t speak to the merits of Amendment 3. Rather, he said the reform should be enacted statutorily so that there’s more flexibility for the legislature to adjust the law in the future.
“Regardless of how someone feels about abortion or marijuana, I don’t believe that those issues should be resolved in the state Constitution,” he said after a campaign rally over the weekend, also referencing a reproductive rights measure that will go before voters.
The congressman pointed out that a limited medical cannabis bill he sponsored during his time in the Florida legislature “had lots of flaws” that required fixes that would have been more difficult to address if the policy change had been written into the state Constitution.
“I think when you ensconce abortion policy or marijuana policy in the Constitution, you limit the ability to appropriately tailor policy to evolving
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