SARASOTA -- A state senator files legislation for a public smoking ban in Florida.
Republican Joe Gruters also supports Amendment 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana use if it gets 60 percent of the vote in November. Gruters says he's introducing the bill as a "proactive" measure after hearing feedback who questioned him for backing legal pot.
Governor DeSantis and other opponents argue that A-3 is so broadly written that it would prohibit any regulations on "time, place and manner" of marijuana use.
Gruters disagrees and insists he won't allow smoking on the streets as he says has been seen in New York, Las Vegas and other areas that have legalized recreational pot use.
Gruters' bill would include streets, sidewalks, highways, parks, schools, hospitals and public areas of retail and apartment buildings. He was joined in a conference call by two supporters, St. Petersburg Senator Darryl Rouson, a Democrat, and Rep. Chip Lamarca of Broward County, who worked with Gruters to give local governments the authority to ban smoking on beaches.
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