Meet the ‘conservative pot smokers’ voting to legalize marijuana in Florida

Sam, 43, of Orlando, has voted Republican in every election since 2000 and describes herself as an evangelical Christian. She also smokes pot.

The first time Mike Pappas, 37, could legally vote after a marijuana conviction, he voted for Donald Trump.

Spencer, 32, of Jacksonville, considers himself “right of center.” He’s smoked weed since he was 17. Now, the drug helps him get up in the morning despite his debilitating back pain.

Harold Winthrop, 22, an avid smoker based in the Panhandle, plans to vote for Trump but not for marijuana legalization because he thinks the amendment’s language would allow big corporations to have a stranglehold on the industry, a criticism that has been raised by other opponents of legalization.

For a long time, marijuana legalization was seen as a Democratic issue, but that narrative that has begun to change. Young right-wing Florida politicians like Matt Gaetz have promoted marijuana reform; recent polling shows that about half of white men without college degrees, the demographic that typically supports Trump, also support Amendment 3, the ballot initiative seeking to legalize weed in November.

The concept of a conservative cannabis consumer is no longer so hard to grasp. Yet the establishment position remains steadfast: both the Republican Party of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis have come out staunchly opposed to legalization.