WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida plans to vote against a ballot amendment in November that would legalize recreational marijuana in his state. It will be a very personal decision because of his brother’s long history of addiction.
The senator and former governor of Florida said he watched his brother Roger Scott start smoking marijuana as a teenager and then struggle with substance abuse for the rest of his life.
“People develop addictive personalities, and that was the case with him,” Scott said in an interview. “It messes up your life, and that’s why I’ve never supported the legalization of drugs.”
When Roger Scott died in April at age 67, it was not substance abuse but rather “a life of drugs and alcohol” that had caught up with him, the senator said. He had been living in an apartment in Dallas, Texas, where he served a prison sentence in 1990 for possession of threatening drugs, court records show.
Rick Scott got opulent as a lawyer and health care executive before entering politics. Now he’s running for re-election. He lamented that his brother had a “rough life” and says it all started with marijuana.
Scott’s no vote on marijuana is in line with other Republicans at the state and federal level who question whether marijuana leads to the exploit of other, riskier substances.
The National Institute of Drug Abuse wrote on a website in 2019 that most cannabis users do not turn to “harder substances.” However, a statement from the agency also said that using THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, can cause changes in the brain that could raise the likelihood of addiction to other drugs.
Amie Goodin, a researcher on marijuana safety at the University of Florida, said studies have shown that people who exploit riskier drugs often have used marijuana before, but the research has not determined whether marijuana is “actually the reason” someone turns to stronger substances.
The Florida ballot initiative would legalize recreational exploit of marijuana if the amendment receives 60% or more approval in November. It would also require the Florida Legislature to establish regulations and frameworks for production and sales. Florida is one of 38 states that have legalized medical marijuana, joining 24 other states that have legalized recreational exploit.
Scott is opposed to the amendment, as is Florida’s Republican Party, which officially announced its opposition in early May. They claim the amendment would “benefit powerful marijuana special interests while endangering children and jeopardizing Florida’s family-friendly business and tourism climate.”
The amendment’s sponsor, Smart & Safe Florida, said on its website that approval would provide Florida residents with “accountability, transparency and regulation,” which could, among other things, ensure that legal cannabis is not laced with unknown and potentially threatening chemicals, it said.
During Scott’s term, voters approved medical marijuana, but Scott and the legislature enacted strict restrictions on its exploit, including banning smokable marijuana. Cannabis advocates then filed suit, and a court agreed to allow smokable medical marijuana shortly before Scott left office. His successor, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, decided not to appeal.
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Brendan Farrington contributed to this report from Tallahassee, Florida.
