Here’s the introduction to their piece
To defeat recreational marijuana at the ballot box, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Republican Party have aligned with companies that are already selling high-potency cannabis to Floridians over the counter and online, according to a Herald/Times investigation. In at least eight instances, the Republican Party of Florida and a political committee run by the governor’s chief of staff have accepted donations this summer from hemp companies whose products tested above the 0.3% legal limit in Florida for total THC, rendering them illegal marijuana in the eyes of state regulators. Some of the products — among 41 purchased by the Herald/Times and tested by a state-certified lab — also contained unauthorized or banned pesticides.
The findings weren’t outliers, though they were disputed by the companies that manufactured and sold the products. Florida regulators say they “regularly identify” products on the market illegally, and state lawmakers worried about psychoactive hemp passed a bill this year to limit its sale. But the governor, who is campaigning to stop Amendment 3, which would establish a recreational marijuana market in Florida, vetoed the legislation in June – after which campaign donations from hemp companies began to roll in. A spokesman for DeSantis’ office would not comment for this article, instead directing the Herald/Times to the governor’s explanation of his veto of Senate Bill 1698, in which he called for stronger regulations. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power, who lobbied DeSantis to veto the bill on behalf of a hemp trade association, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article294313734.html#storylink=cpy
