Miles' Musings - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Election Edition

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY - Election Edition

The good

I honestly can not think of one positive thing to say in this newsletter.  Oh, wait, Nebraska did successfully pass a highly restrictive medical program that could generate $5mm per month in revenue someday…..

The bad

Citizen-led ballot initiatives to legalize adult use (i.e. recreational use) of cannabis FAILED in Florida and both of the Dakotas. While both North and South Dakota share  tortured histories of failed legalization attempts and when combined do not really amount to a hill of beans in terms of U.S. population (<1.8mm) anyway, the failed effort in Florida really stings. With a population above 22mm, Florida already supports the country’s largest medical marijuana market.  Not only that, but the vast majority of its citizens have a favorable impression of the industry and the “yes votes” on the proposed legalization Amendment 3 were polling well above the 60% required threshold just days before the election.  

Conservative estimates by industry analysts were for $4-5bn annually of incremental industry revenue from these three state markets at maturation, or 10-15% growth for the U.S. market at large.  What a complete and total disaster….

THE UGLY

DeSantis, DeSantis, DeSantis.  Now, if you don’t know who Ron DeSantis is, you likely live under a rock and should probably unsubscribe, but I doubt few outside of Florida realize just how duplicitous of a politician this man is or how personally injurious he has been to our industry.  From the bully pulpit of the governor’s office, and with near iron fist control of both state houses and seemingly the courts, DeSantis took it upon himself to kill Amendments 3 and 4 (abortion access, which also failed). I was shocked to learn that taxpayer money was being used to defeat citizen-led ballot initiatives. For some reason I naively expected our elected officials to value and respect the will of the people.  

The fact that DeSantis directed his Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to send text messages to citizens and threaten television stations that aired ads in favor of Amendments 3 and 4 is beyond the pale.  While the Courts ultimately rejected HHS’s ability to strong arm local broadcasters, I, as a fellow floridian, continued to receive text messages from the Department warning me of the dangers of marijuana use to our children, although all of my children are grown adults and as a general rule I NEVER get high with children in any event.  The message was clear -  a vote for Amendment 3 puts our children at risk.

Perhaps worse, DeSantis took to the airwaves, most notably on Fox News the day of the election, to bash Amendment 3 and vilify the existing players in the market. Using such flimsy pretexts as “the entire state with smell like weed” and “Amendment 3 does not specifically allow homegrow” - which I did not even know Ron was into - and “the Amendment only benefits the State’s existing players and effectively creates a monopoly”,  Ron killed the bill.  Now while I could effectively debate each of the straw man arguments put forth by DeSantis, and indeed dismantle them, I do not have enough space left in this newsletter to do so.  But I reserve my rights for future newsletter material.

Just know this readers, the hemp industry is one of DeSantis’s largest political contributors and generates several multiples more revenue than the medical marijuana industry in Florida.  Earlier this year DeSantis vetoed a bill that would have dramatically restricted the hemp industry’s ability to peddle so-called “hemp-derived” THC without any rules, regulations or oversight - resulting in untested product packaged in materials most attractive to children being sold in unlicensed gas stations, smoke shops and over 11,000 stores throughout the state, like the ice cream shop in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach.  Go figure…..