Florida is channeling millions from opioid settlement funds into an anti-marijuana ad campaign, state records show.
OG Article: here
View our Fair Use Policy: here
Last month, the Florida Department of Children and Families allocated $4 million to a marketing agency for an educational campaign targeting families and youth about the “dangers of marijuana, opioid, and drug use.”
Though details of the campaign are limited, the state has recently released ads warning of marijuana’s potential mental health risks for teens, linking its use to schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. One ad warns that today’s marijuana is “engineered by corporations all for one purpose: to rewire the human mind.”
This push comes as Governor Ron DeSantis openly opposes Amendment 3, which would legalize adult recreational marijuana use in Florida. Although the ads don’t directly reference the amendment, advocates say they reflect an attempt to influence voters ahead of the election.
DeSantis recently held news conferences attacking Amendment 3, calling it “more liberal” than marijuana laws in Colorado and California. At one event, a mother whose son died from opioid use shared that her son’s drug use began with marijuana.
First Lady Casey DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo have also made appearances, rallying against the amendment. Ladapo warned in a TV interview about marijuana’s possible negative health effects.
The state’s contract with Strategic Digital Services, a Tallahassee-based agency frequently hired by the state, is for a $4 million campaign on the risks of marijuana and other drugs. This funding comes from the opioid settlement trust fund, which allocates settlement money for combating substance abuse.
While it’s unclear if the two recent ads were produced under this contract, both were released shortly after the deal. One ad advises, “protect your children from the dangers of gateway drugs like marijuana and opioids,” while the other doesn’t mention opioids at all.
On Friday, a bipartisan group supporting Amendment 3 criticized the DeSantis administration’s use of settlement money for anti-marijuana ads, calling it a misuse of public funds. “At the end of the day, tax dollars should not go to fund propaganda, bottom line,” said Senator Joe Gruters, a Republican from Sarasota.
Over the next 20 years, Florida expects to receive about $3 billion from opioid settlements, much of which will be allocated by the Florida Legislature, while some goes directly to counties and cities. State law mandates that this settlement money should address the opioid epidemic. While the settlement agreement does allow for addressing “substance use disorders” more broadly, it focuses primarily on opioid use.
Regina LaBelle, head of Georgetown University Law School’s Center on Addiction and Public Policy, commented that Florida could technically argue these PSAs align with settlement guidelines, depending on how the campaign is implemented and whether it includes tools for parents to educate their children.
An 11-member council reviews Florida’s opioid settlement spending, but anti-marijuana ads weren’t brought to its attention. Lee Constantine, a Republican commissioner on the council, pointed out, “Marijuana use is clearly a different issue” and called it a “travesty” if opioid funds are being used this way. “I am not a fan of recreational marijuana use,” he said. “But these dollars were intended to be used for the abatement of substance abuse in relation to opioids.”
Comments