Proposed recreational marijuana amendment in Florida clears first big hurdle
Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the recreational use of marijuana have passed a preliminary hurdle to get on the 2024 ballot, submitting more than enough petition signatures to trigger a Florida Supreme Court review of the measure.
The Supreme Court will review the wording of the proposal to make sure that it includes only a single subject and would not mislead voters. Justices rejected two ballot proposals in 2021 aimed at allowing the recreational use of marijuana.
If the Smart & Safe Florida committee gets Supreme Court approval, it would need to submit a total of 891,589 valid signatures to get on the 2024 ballot, with certain numbers of signatures coming from at least half of the state’s congressional districts.
Under the "Adult Personal Use of Marijuana" proposal, people 21 or older would be allowed "to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise."
The proposal also would allow any of the state’s licensed medical-marijuana operators to "acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories." Florida currently has 22 licensed operators. The initiative would not authorize people to grow marijuana plants for personal use.
Passage of constitutional amendments requires approval from 60 percent of voters