Sen. Jeff Brandes. | AP Photo First Florida GOP legislator backs medical marijuana initiative

State Sen. Jeff Brandes has endorsed Florida’s medical marijuana ballot initiative, making him the first sitting Republican legislator to embrace the proposal after years of inaction in the state Capitol.

Brandes, of St. Petersburg, said he would prefer that lawmakers pass a comprehensive medical marijuana law he had proposed for the past two years. But he now believes the GOP-led Legislature just can’t get the job done. So voters will have to pass it into law Nov. 8, he said.


Despite strong public support for a broad medical marijuana law, legislators have instead passed limited prescription cannabis laws that provided for low-THC marijuana and higher-potency marijuana for those in end-of-life situations. The current law would also limit growing and distributing marijuana to just five longtime nursery owners in the state, said Brandes, who opposed giving so few people a path to riches that are akin to “Willie Wonka’s Golden Ticket.”

“The Legislature screwed up the opportunity in the medical marijuana law. What you’ve seen them do is create a situation where only a handful of families can get wealthy,” Brandes said. “And the Legislature believes it knows better than physicians on how to treat patients. And the only way we’re going to see meaningful change in that area is to put it in the Constitution.”

Brandes didn’t always believe that direct democracy was the solution.

In 2014, when the group United for Care got a medical marijuana proposal on the ballot, Brandes joined with fellow Republicans in opposing it — in part because he didn’t like legislating by plebiscite and because he believed the amendment was poorly written. The measure garnered 57.6 percent support, but it failed because amendments need 60 percent of the vote to pass.

Recent surveys show the amendment this time is polling at roughly 70 percent or higher.

Since its amendment’s defeat two years ago, United for Care has rewritten the proposal to clarify that it applies only to people with debilitating medical conditions. The backers hoped that anti-drug opponents would stop attacking the proposal as a “smokescreen” for legalization. But to no avail.

“The Florida Legislature has already addressed the issue of providing a derivative of marijuana,” said Christina Johnson, spokesperson for the Vote No on 2 Campaign. “This amendment is unnecessary, and if passed, would be nothing more than legalization of recreational pot.”

The amendment, however, is designed to treat marijuana as a medicine and not a legalized recreational drug.

“This is really more about cancer patients and individuals with HIV or severely debilitating diseases who, working with their physicians, simply want access to what the Legislature has already said is medicine,” Brandes said. “The Legislature already has said it’s medicine. It’s already said it has medical properties that should allow physicians to prescribe it — even high THC, at least people at the end of their life, should have that option.”

Brandes’ support is a measure of vindication for the United for Care campaign. It fought charges from Republicans that it was a just Democratic front group in 2014, and it had to beat back the notion that legislators would act. Medical marijuana is legal in 25 states and the District of Columbia.

“Here’s a member of the majority party of the Legislature — someone in the leadership of the Florida Senate — who doesn’t want to do it through a constitutional amendment but has realized there is no other option,” said Ben Pollara, who manages United for Care’s campaign.

A survey from Public Policy Polling released Wednesday showed the proposed amendment was supported by 70 percent of likely Florida voters, with 23 percent opposed. A United for Care poll two months ago showed the amendment getting 77 percent support with 20 percent opposed. In all polls, amendment support cuts across racial, ethnic and partisan lines. Opposition is mainly concentrated among older conservatives.

Pollara notes that, unlike in 2014, there isn’t much organized opposition. The Republican-leaning Florida Sheriffs Association, which was opposed two years ago, hasn’t taken a position. And Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office decided not to try to block the measure in the Florida Supreme Court.

Brandes’ support brings a measure of Republican bonafides to the amendment backers. He uses conservative and libertarian arguments to support the amendment: it loosens regulations, increases personal freedom and removes a layer of government between patients and doctors.

“There are Republicans who have more of a libertarian bent, like myself, who truly believe in less regulation and allowing physicians and patients to determine what is best for their own needs,” Brandes said.

“This isn’t an argument about whether its medicine or not,” he said. “This is really an argument about who should have access to it and who should decide who has access to it. And I think physicians should decide and not the Legislature.”

