John Morgan, Florida’s “Pot Daddy,” now the voice of recreational marijuana advertising

The group behind the proposed recreational marijuana constitutional amendment set to appear on Florida’s 2024 ballot announced it has launched a $1.1 million radio advertising campaign.

And “Pot Daddy” John Morgan is the voice behind it.

“Throughout the month of July, our campaign will remind voters that freedom means individual rights and an end to arrests and incarceration for simple marijuana possession,” Morgan Hill, spokeswoman for Smart & Safe Florida, said in a statement Wednesday.

“We know that thousands of people are arrested for marijuana in Florida every year. While Americans across the country have the right to use marijuana, it is a shame that Floridians’ individual freedoms are still being restricted.”

The ads feature Florida attorney and entrepreneur John Morgan, who played a key role in the legalization of medical marijuana in Florida and is already supporting the recreational campaign.

The Marijuana Act, Amendment 3, allows persons 21 years of age and older to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana for non-medical purposes, including no more than 5 grams in concentrated form.

“Nearly 250 years ago, our nation declared its independence,” Morgan, who jokingly calls himself the state’s “Pot Daddy,” said in one of the ads. “Now it’s time for us to declare our independence from laws that impose prison sentences for the mere possession or use of marijuana.”

(Morgan even has his own “Pot Daddy” merchandise, by the way.)

Smart & Safe Florida has received more than $60 million in donations, most of which came from Trulieve, Florida’s largest medical marijuana provider, but other cannabis companies have also donated. According to its campaign finance report from late June, the group has about $13 million left on hand — not counting any other funding it may receive.

But advocates of recreational marijuana face opposition from the state’s Republican leadership, including Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has said the proposed legislation, which he called “very far-reaching,” would fill Florida with marijuana odors and “degrade the quality of life.”

The governor recently created a new political spending committee under the Florida Freedom Fund to support his preferred candidates and oppose the marijuana constitutional amendment, as well as a committee to ensure access to abortion.

The other amendments on the ballot paper: Florida’s 2024 Constitutional Amendments: What Voters Need to Know

DEA on marijuana: Before the vote on the law change in Florida, the DEA wants to classify marijuana as less harmful

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Douglas Soule, First Amendment reporter for the USA Today Network-Florida, can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: John Morgan speaks ads for Florida recreational marijuana ballot bill