Floridians will get to vote in November on making recreational marijuana legal
TALLAHASSEE
Floridians will vote on recreational marijuana in November after the Florida Supreme Court signed off Monday on ballot language for a proposed constitutional amendment.
The amendment would permit non-medical marijuana use and would remove criminal or civil penalties for adults who are over 21 and possess and use up to three ounces of pot for personal use. At least 60% of Floridians must approve it to become law. Florida voters passed the state’s medical marijuana statute with 71% of the vote in 2016.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody had challenged the proposed amendment, arguing the ballot summary would mislead voters because it states that marijuana would be legal when it is illegal federally.
But in a 5-2 decision, the conservative Supreme Court ruled that the language wasn’t misleading.
The ballot initiative’s summary “clearly states that the amendment legalizes adult personal possession and use of marijuana as a matter of Florida law,” wrote the court’s majority, which included Justices Charles Canady, Jorge Labarga and John Couriel.
Joining the majority were Carlos Muñiz and Jamie Grosshans, who filed their own opinions.
Justices telegraphed part of the ruling during arguments about the amendment in November. Canady said then he was “baffled” by the state’s argument about the language being misleading, and other justices were similarly skeptical of the state’s push against the amendment.
However, Justices Renatha Francis and Meredith Sasso wrote in separate dissenting opinions published Monday that they agreed the language would be misleading.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed five justices — Couriel, Francis, Grosshans, Muñiz and Sasso — now on the court.
More than 1 million Florida voters have signed petitions in support of the recreational-marijuana initiative led by Smart & Safe Florida. The marijuana company Trulieve is almost solely responsible for the nearly $40 million that the group had raised as of the end of December.
“We are thankful that the Court has correctly ruled the ballot initiative and summary language meets the standards for single subject and clarity. We look forward to supporting this campaign as it heads to the ballot this Fall,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers said in a written statement Monday.
Moody criticized Trulieve in an August brief, writing, “In its pursuit of a larger customer base and greater profits, Trulieve has invited millions of Floridians to join it in reckless violation of federal criminal law.”
DeSantis has also opposed the amendment. In March, he said the amendment was “incredibly broad” and said people being able to smoke pot anywhere could pose a quality-oflife issue.
“If you’re saying you can’t regulate it or you can’t limit it, which that’s how I read that, that could be a big problem,” he said.
John Bash, an attorney for the group sponsoring the amendment, said the amendment has language that would allow the Legislature to limit public consumption just like Florida does for tobacco.
Twenty-four states allow the use of recreational marijuana.
If voters support the Florida amendment, it will go into effect six months after the election. At that point, Floridians who are 21 and older would be able to purchase marijuana products at already existing and licensed medical-marijuana distributors.