EXCLUSIVE: ‘Poking The Bear’ As Florida’s Contentious Cannabis Legalization Vote Looms

Rosie Mattio, founder and CEO of Mattio Communications, and Jason Erkes, chief communications officer at Cresco Labs CRLBF, both agreed that throughout their many years in public affairs and communications, they’d never seen anything quite like Florida’s cannabis legalization campaign in support of Amendment 3.

“Massive…massive,” said Erkes at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference on Oct. 9. The panel was “One Month Out: Inside Florida’s Record-Breaking Adult-Use Legalization Effort.”

Erkes noted the Smart & Safe Florida campaign raised at least $100 million to get the word out. Indeed, Amendment 3 is the best-funded cannabis legalization amendment in American history, surpassing the previous record set by California’s 2016 Proposition 64.

Amendment 3 will go before Florida voters this coming November.

One of the campaign’s strengths, said Mattio, was that it meets people where they are — in the towns and communities across Florida — and the reception has been positive. People relate to issues such as criminal justice reform and freedom of choice. They don’t necessarily need to be cannabis consumers to get behind these basic concepts, Mattio said. Not to mention that medical marijuana has been legal in Florida for a decade and its success “has been an example of what a good program looks like,” she added.

Mattio and Erkes had the highest praise for Smart & Safe’s nearly 800 satellite offices all over Florida, the thousands of lawn signs, the campaign’s 13 TV ads and of course making sure people were registered to vote. “It’s a political campaign, after all,” Erkes said.

Panel moderator Bryna Dahlin asked about the recent lawsuits popping up in Florida. There’s the defamation lawsuit launched by Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TCNNF accusing the Florida Republican Party of intentionally misleading voters with a deceptive TV campaign ad.

That lawsuit alleges that the TV ad in question misleads voters by implying that only large cannabis companies, such as Trulieve will benefit from marijuana legalization.

Then there’s Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo (D) who is suing the State of Florida for misusing taxpayer dollars to fund an ad produced by the Florida Department of Transportation opposing Amendment 3.

“I generally don’t think it’s a good idea to poke the bear,” said Erkes, but in this case “one way to discredit a false narrative is to launch a lawsuit.” In fact, it’s a great PR campaign, he added.

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Photo: Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, Oct. 9, 2024, Photo by Wendy Davis