DeSantis team quietly took money meant for addiction treatment and used it to run attack ads against Amendment 3, never telling the oversight board created to guard those exact dollars.
TALLAHASSEE — Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration moved at least $4 million in opioid settlement money into an anti-marijuana campaign without ever informing the statewide advisory board set up to watch how that cash is spent, records obtained by multiple Florida news outlets show.
The transfer happened in the heat of the 2024 election when DeSantis was publicly leading the charge against Amendment 3, the ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana. The amendment fell just four points short of the required 60 percent, finishing with 55.9 percent of the vote.
How the Money Moved Without Oversight
In August 2024, the Department of Children and Families quietly shifted $4 million from Florida’s opioid settlement trust fund to the Department of Health. From there, the money flowed to the Drug Free Florida Committee, the same political group DeSantis used to broadcast ads claiming legal weed would flood streets with dangerous drugs and hurt kids.
The Statewide Opioid Settlement Allocation Advisory Council, created by the Legislature in 2023 to approve every penny of settlement spending, never saw the proposal and never voted on it.
Council members only learned about the expenditure after the election when reporters started asking questions. One member told the Tampa Bay Times the panel would “absolutely have pushed back” if they had known the money was going to a political campaign instead of treatment beds or Narcan distribution.
Where the Opioid Money Was Supposed to Go
Florida is set to receive about $3.3 billion over 18 years from lawsuits against drug makers and distributors blamed for the opioid crisis. State law says the money must go to prevention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement efforts tied to opioids.
Past approved uses include:
- Expanding medication-assisted treatment programs
- Buying thousands of Narcan kits for first responders
- Funding recovery housing and mental health courts
Running television ads against a marijuana ballot measure was never on the list.
DeSantis Team Defends the Spending
A spokesperson for the governor told reporters the spending was legal because “marijuana is a gateway drug that can lead to opioid addiction.” The administration insists the ads qualified as “opioid prevention education.”
Critics call that explanation a stretch. Melinda Aviles, a recovery advocate on the advisory council, said using treatment dollars for partisan ads “feels like a betrayal to every family that lost someone to opioids.”
Same Playbook, Different Year
This is not the first time DeSantis has tapped restricted funds for political fights. In 2022, his administration used COVID relief money to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, a move later ruled improper by some watchdogs.
Democratic leaders in Florida say the opioid diversion fits a pattern. Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book called it “robbing Peter to pay for Ron’s culture war.”
As of now, no investigation has been announced, and the DeSantis administration shows no sign of returning the money.
The opioid crisis still claims more than 7,000 lives a year in Florida. Every dollar diverted to television ads is a dollar that did not go to a treatment bed, a syringe exchange, or a grieving family trying to save a loved one.