Canada is catching strays in a fight between the Florida governor and a Florida-based cannabis company.
Florida Governor and failed US Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis recently lashed out at US cannabis MSO TruLieve, calling them a “Canadian company.”
The governor is pushing back against a proposed amendment in Florida, Amendment 3, that, if passed, would allow the possession of up to 3 ounces of cannabis for non-medical purposes, with no more than 5 grams in concentrated form, for those who are 21 years old and up.
“How ridiculous is this, that we would let our Constitution basically be rent-seeking for some Canadian marijuana company?” DeSantis said during a speech at the Republican National Convention in July. “I mean, give me a break.”
He said legalizing cannabis would “mess up the state,” damaging quality of life, claiming Colorado’s efforts have failed and complaining that Denver smells of marijuana.
“That’s just the reality,” claimed the governor, who may or may not have been wearing lifts in his boots at the time. “We’ve seen it in practice in a lot of these places, it hasn’t delivered what they said it was going to deliver.”
DeSantis and other Republicans have been attacking the amendment on various grounds for weeks. The newest attack is odd because while TruLieve is connected to Canada through a reverse takeover that allowed them to be listed on the Canadian stock exchange, the company is and always has been well-known for being based in Florida.
The connection to Canada is one several American cannabis companies have taken to be publicly listed since federal prohibition in the US would prevent it from being listed on that country’s stock exchanges.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Trulieve spokesperson Steve Vancore said in an email: “The only connection to Canada is a holding company that was formed so that stocks can be publicly traded. Trulieve Cannabis Corp is NOT the licensee nor has it, the holding company, made a single donation to the Smart & Safe Florida campaign.”
Smart & Safe Florida is an organization backing the proposed amendment.
The majority of funds that have gone to Smart & Safe Florida, the newspaper reports, come from Florida’s Trulieve Inc., which is around $60 million (US).
“The fact of the matter is that Trulieve is Florida-born, our products are Florida-grown and we are headquartered in Florida with most of our nearly 4,000 employees living here as well,” said CEO Kim Rivers in a statement.
