Cannabis critic warns lawmakers about dangers of today's pot, urges against ever legalizing it
Dr. Jessica Spencer warns a Florida Senate committee against the dangers of high-potency cannabis on Feb. 11, 2025. (Screenshot/Florida Channel)
A leading Florida critic of daily cannabis consumption urged a legislative panel on Tuesday to increase state funding in elementary schools to warn about the risks of early marijuana use, especially related to brain development.
Dr. Jessica Spencer, who worked on the campaign to defeat Amendment 3 last year, also used her remarks in front of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee to urge against Florida ever legalizing cannabis for adults.
Spencer began her presentation by noting that the potency of cannabis in 2025 is much higher than it was in the 1960s and '70s, as measured by THC content. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main ingredient in marijuana that produces the psychoactive 'high' when consumed.
She showed a slide presentation from the University of Mississippi working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to show that flower products averaged less than 1% THC in 1975, compared to an average of 16.14% in 2022.
Spencer said her focus was not on the casual adult consumer of cannabis, but those who use it on a daily or near daily basis, and especially young people.
'The main concern for me is adolescents … but that doesn't mean I'm not concerned about adults and the daily use of these high-potency products,' she said, adding that children have a higher chance of addiction because their brains are still growing.
Spencer discussed the relationship between cannabis use and mental health disorders, which has been documented over the past decade.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), citing a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), now says on its website that people who use cannabis are more likely to develop psychosis and long-lasting mental disorders such as schizophrenia, with that association stronger in people who start using at an earlier age and more frequently.
'We need to be educating individuals on the dangers of this particular substance,' Spencer told lawmakers.
Spencer made numerous appearances in person and in the media last year denouncing the possibility of legalizing cannabis in Florida as the director of advocacy for the Vote NO on 3 campaign, and she used the platform offered to her on Tuesday to once again call for that to never happen in Florida.
That's as the group that sponsored that constitutional amendment has already begun trying again to place the measure in front of voters on a statewide ballot in 2026.
'We don't want full legalization. We see what happens in other states when we have full legalization and we know it's not good,' she said.
A majority of Florida voters (56%) approved legalizing the adult use of cannabis in Florida last year, short of the 60% threshold required for passage.
Spencer told committee members that they need to be aware of hemp products such as Delta 8 that are sold in gas stations and smoke shops, and urged the Legislature to ban them. (The Legislature did pass a bill last year banning Delta 8 and putting limits on the THC content in hemp products but Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed it).
She said that's why the state needs to use as much as 25% of available state drug demand reduction funds — including from the opioid abatement funds — for primary prevention strategies.
But it was when she discussed cannabis and its link to violence among young men that she got some pushback by Democrats on the panel.
Among those listed in a slide as committing crimes while having marijuana in their system was Rudy Eugene, the Miami man shot dead by police in 2012 after he chewed the face off of a homeless person, and Nikolas Cruz, the gunman responsible for the shooting massacre at Parkland in 2018.
'So really what we should be focusing on is identifying people who have underlying mental health issues and making sure they don't get anywhere near marijuana?' asked South Florida Democrat Jason Pizzo.
'That would be an interesting way to do so,' Spencer replied.
Spencer said she supports efforts to decriminalize simple possession of the plant.
'Please consider not ruining people's lives over that,' she said, calling for allowing law enforcement to use diversion and civil citation programs to deal with those arrested for possession (which are already in use in several counties and municipalities in Florida for low-level possession arrests).
The committee took no immediate action on Spencer's requests, but there is still plenty of time before the Legislature's session begins next month for any legislation to emerge based on her public testimony.
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