A petition supported by the marijuana business that seeks to place a legalization proposal before voters in 2024 has collected enough signatures to trigger a review of the initiative’s language by the state Supreme Court. The initiative was submitted by Smart & Safe Florida in the summer of 2018, and the campaign has so far submitted 294,037 valid signatures to initiate the review.
Which is a necessary step toward ballot placement, as reported initially by News Service Florida. To get a court to evaluate the initiative, they required 222,898 signatures. The Supreme Court of Florida will review the initiative to ensure that it does not mislead voters and does not violate the single-topic rule of the Florida Constitution.
If the court agrees that the initiative satisfies those criteria, then the campaign must gather a minimum of 891,589 valid voter signatures before the deadline in order for the measure to be on the ballot in the following year. The court has already ruled against efforts to put adult-use legalization on the ballot in Florida.
Trulieve, the largest medical cannabis business in Florida, has committed $20 million to the Smart & Safe Florida political committee proposal after first providing seed money to get the campaign off the ground. If passed, the initiative will legalize the sale of marijuana to anyone over the age of 21 by the state’s current medical cannabis businesses like Trulieve.
It includes a clause that might pave the way for the legalization of more enterprises, but would not mandate it. In its current form, the plan would outlaw consumer home production. According to the plan, those over the age of 21 would be allowed to buy and carry up to an ounce of cannabis, with just five grams allowed to be concentrated forms of the drug.
The three-page bill does not include any equity provisions, like expungements or other relief for persons with prior cannabis offenses, which are sought by campaigners. In 2016, Floridians approved a constitutional amendment to legalize medical cannabis.
However, subsequent attempts to place broader legalization on the ballot have been rejected by the state Supreme Court. This is because the court found that the language of proposed measures by Make It Legal Florida and Sensible Florida was misleading, rendering them invalid.
What Would Be Achieved by The Smart & Safe Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative Is as Follows:
- A maximum of one ounce of cannabis for personal use was available for purchase by adults over the age of 21. The total amount of concentrated marijuana could not exceed five grams.
- Dispensaries for medical marijuana would be able to “obtain, produce, process, manufacture, market, and distribute marijuana goods and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use.”
- The legislature could, but would not be obligated to, grant approval to businesses that are not already permitted to operate as cannabis dispensaries.
- According to the initiative, the legislature is free to “enact legislation that is consistent with this amendment” if they so choose.
- The measure was amended to make it more clear that nothing in it would “alter federal law,” presumably to stave off any future legal challenges based on the ballot’s original, ambiguous wording.
- Home cultivation, record sealing, and equal treatment are not addressed.
- In the event of voter approval, the bill would go into effect six months later.
The Complete Title and Summary for The Ballot Are as Follows:
“Allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers and other state-licensed entities to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories; allows adults over the age of 21 to possess, purchase, and use such products and accessories for non-medical personal consumption via smoking, ingestion, or other means.
Only Florida law is applicable; federal law is not affected or protected in any way. Limits one’s ability to keep a large amount of something for one’s own use. permits uniform laws to be in place. clarifies meanings of key concepts. Time of effect provided.”
- If the issue to modify Florida’s cannabis laws makes it onto the ballot in 2024, it will need the approval of 60 percent of voters to become law.
- A majority of Florida voters (59 percent) support legalizing cannabis for adult use, according to a poll published in 2021.
- However, this is a narrow margin, indicating that campaigners will have their work cut out for them if the initiative passes the first round of voting.
- Meanwhile, activists not affiliated with the Smart & Safe Florida campaign indicated last year that they were considering putting a proposition to voters that would allow adults to cultivate their own cannabis at home as a companion measure to Smart & Safe Florida.
