The Florida campaign seeking to put a cannabis legalization question to voters in 2026 has obtained enough signatures to trigger a state review, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the failed 2024 effort, has submitted more than 337,000 signatures – surpassing the 220,000-signature threshold to prompt the legally-mandated financial and judicial review.
State Attorney General James Uthmeier must now send the language of the proposal to the state Supreme Court, which must find clear, single-subject language in the ballot text proposal.
The initiative calls for legalizing cannabis for adults 21-and-older, granting the ability to possess, purchase, and use cannabis for nonmedical purposes, and prohibits marketing toward children and public consumption. The language on the 2024 ballot did not specify bans on marketing toward children or public use.
The campaign faces new hurdles for circulating the petitions under a new state law that prohibits non-resident petition circulators. On May 30, Smart & Safe Florida filed an emergency motion to a federal judge arguing that the law infringes on First Amendment rights and has “injured” the organization’s “number of people to carry their message to the public” and that the law is “very likely the difference between” the amendment getting on the ballot or not.
In 2024, the amendment did not garner 60% of the vote, totaling 57% support among voters.
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