According to WhatsApp communications reviewed by CBS News Miami, hemp CEOs across the state committed $5 million in donations to the Republican Party of Florida after Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would severely limit and control their industry.
According to the first post in the Save Florida Hemp WhatsApp group, “We know nothing in life is free and neither was this veto.”
The tweet, released on June 27, revealed that “We are currently seen as DeSantis’s allies to defeat the recreational ballot initiative.” This came less than three weeks after DeSantis vetoed Senate Bill 1698. To back his stance on this, our lobbying team has pledged to bring in substantial funds. He picked Hemp to be his champion, so now it’s our turn to shine.
Put away Numerous businesses selling unlicensed cannabis goods, like Delta 8 and Delta 9, are among the over a thousand members of Florida Hemp. Among them are large-scale laboratories and hemp producers.
The Florida Republican Party’s bank routing information is included in the opening message. According to multiple messages, the Governor’s Office was checking the account frequently to determine who was sending money.
Proponents of Amendment 3, a referendum measure to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida, would allegedly use the funds to oppose the measure.
A vocal opponent of the amendment, DeSantis has spoken out against it. Hemp business leaders are concerned that they would lose sales of less powerful hemp products if marijuana becomes legal.
The group allegedly has already donated almost $2 million to the RPOF, according to recent WhatsApp communications, which also detail dozens of payments previously made to the party. Contributions vary from $500 from mom-and-pop hemp stores to $250,000 from corporations like Arvida Labs. The party’s campaign financial reports are due in a few weeks, so it will be unable to independently verify the contributions.
There are extensive links between the state’s Republican Party and the hemp sector. Evan Power, the Florida Republican Party chairman, and Bill Helmich, the executive director of the party, are the two primary lobbyists for the organization.
The original WhatsApp message highlights a gathering that the hemp executives attended with Power, Helmich, and Jeff Aaron, who is referred to as “the chief litigator for the governor himself.” Attorney GrayRobinson, of which Aaron is a shareholder, has received millions of dollars to defend the state in litigation challenging several of the governor’s contentious statutes.
Products containing THC, like Delta 9, would have been subject to sales restrictions had DeSantis signed the Senate bill into law. Products with Delta 8 and Delta 10 would likewise be illegal to produce and sell, despite their growing popularity and rising potency.
Opponents of the bill argue that it would have a devastating effect on the hemp business, leading to the loss of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue for the state.
These WhatsApp messages claim that DeSantis is now depending on the hemp sector to fund his campaign against Amendment 3. This is because DeSantis vetoed the law, keeping the hemp industry alive in Florida.
Source: CBS News