Amendment 3, the voting point that will allow adults 21 years and older consume or possess marijuana in limited quantitiesIt is about three basic things: freedom, safety and protection of vulnerable young people.

Florida has been nicknamed “the free state” and yet we continue to arrest adults simply for possessing small amounts of a plant that has been shown to be safer than alcohol and far less dangerous than opioids.

It’s time to change that.

It’s time to join the number of Americans who live in a state where marijuana in limited quantities is legal and safe. Every year in Florida, thousands of adults are deprived of their liberty for simply possess a few ounces of marijuana.

While very few spend much time in prison, many spend a lot of time in county jail and end up with a record that can (and often does) ruin their lives forever. That is not freedom, but oppression.

Even Governor Ron DeSantis has repeatedly indicated that he does not believe anyone should go to jail for smoking a joint.

We agree; But not only should people not go to jail or have a record that follows them for the rest of their lives, they should not be forced to risk those same lives when they buy marijuana from dealers on the street.

Increasingly we find that illicit marijuana is laced with dangerous additives such as methamphetamine, fentanyl, PCP or ketamine, not to mention banned pesticides and herbicides, which contain toxins such as heavy metals.

Is this common? Yeah.

In fact, during a House hearing earlier this year, Dr. Ralph Massullo (FL-23) testified that 90% of the marijuana confiscated by Florida law enforcement agencies contained some type of dangerous additive. Legal marijuana will be safe because its safety and purity will be independently laboratory tested.

Consumers can and will know that no dangerous chemicals will be added, as is already being done in our successful medical marijuana program.

Until that point, while we Nearly 180,000 Americans lose to alcohol annuallyThere is no record of a single person who has died from a marijuana overdose.

Finally, I hope voters consider the impact on our youth – the incredibly positive impact.

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In state after state (there are 24 total right now) that flocked to a legalized marijuana market, we found that teen marijuana use declined. That’s right: use among teens is down. Because? Because street corner drug dealers operated in nearly every neighborhood in those states, just as they do in Florida today. When states legalized marijuana for adults, that changed.

Legalization severely harms crime syndicates that sell marijuana on the streets and places those sales in regulated retail outlets, making marijuana less accessible to teenagers. As a mother, I am very motivated to ensure that our children have less access to all drugs (including alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco).

I want it taken off the streets and put into a retail market where anyone purchasing marijuana must present a valid ID card showing they are of legal age.

To emphasize this point, the results on teen use are staggering. Several federal and state agencies have independently reviewed actual data and found that states that passed laws like Amendment 3 consistently saw a net reduction in teen use.

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Furthermore, the conservative Journal of the American Medical Association found exactly the same thing: By taking marijuana off the streets, it becomes less accessible to teenagers and therefore, teen use drops.

The lead spokesperson for the No on 3 campaign, Dr. Jessica Spencer, even publicly admitted this fact. during a debate on October 22 when he stated: “We agree that in states that legalize marijuana, consumption among adolescents decreases.”

So let’s get marijuana off the streets. Let’s put it in a safe, controlled and regulated market where marijuana is lab tested to ensure it does not contain dangerous additives (like fentanyl or ketamine) and keep it out of the hands of teenagers. Let’s vote YES on Amendment 3.

Kim Rivers is the CEO of Trulieve, a Florida-based medical cannabis company known as a medical marijuana treatment center.

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. Us welcome to a diversity of opinions.

This article originally appeared in the Florida Times-Union: Opinion: Marijuana will be safer if Amendment 3 passes