Florida-based Trulieve hits back over ‘Canadian marijuana company’ claim

Trulieve Cannabis Corp. is the biggest marijuana company in Florida – and, to be clear, it is absolutely a Florida business.

That’s what Kim Rivers, CEO of the multistate operator, said in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis inaccurately labeling Trulieve as “some Canadian marijuana company.”

DeSantis used his floor time during the Republican National Convention in July to rail against Florida’s adult-use marijuana ballot initiative, Amendment 3, which is heavily funded by Trulieve.

The governor is raising money to defeat the constitutional amendment.

‘One company, from Canada’

Adult-use legalization “is being driven by one company, from Canada,” DeSantis said.

“And they came into Florida from medical … and now they’re spending tens of millions of dollars to do that.”

DeSantis pointed to a critique many marijuana advocates have made: The Trulieve-funded Smart & Safe Florida campaign amends the state constitution to allow existing medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTC) to convert to adult use but does not allow Floridians to cultivate the plant at home.

If passed by 60% of voters, Amendment 3 would legalize the sale of recreational marijuana products by the state’s existing MMTCs, at least initially.

“They are basically putting corporate protectionism in the constitution to protect them so they get to sell it all,” DeSantis said.

“How ridiculous is this that we would let our constitution be rent-seeking for some Canadian marijuana company?”

‘Florida-born, Florida-grown’

Like other publicly traded plant-touching companies, shares of Trulieve (TRUL) are listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

However, the Tallahassee-based MSO’s headquarters and most of its operations are in Florida.

In a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat, Rivers hit back, pointing out her strong connections to the state – and a provision in Florida law that would prohibit

“The fact of the matter is that Trulieve is Florida-born, our products are Florida-grown and we are headquartered in Florida with most of our nearly 4,000 employees living here as well,” she told the newspaper.

“I am a Florida native, born and raised here, and this is my home.”

“And, I might add, Florida law requires us and all MMTCs to be Florida-based, so any statements to the contrary are completely false.”

Waiting on Donald Trump

With DeSantis’ opposition clear, other state voters are eagerly anticipating the opinion of another Florida resident: Donald Trump.

Trump, the 45th U.S. president and the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, said last week he’d weigh in “soon” on Amendment 3.

“Well, as we legalize it, I start to agree a lot more,” Trump said in response to a question.

“Because, you know, it’s being legalized all over the country.

“Florida has something coming up. I’ll be making a statement about that fairly soon.”