Recreational Potty Amendment to Florida Constitution Removes Initial Barrier

TALLAHASSEE, Florida. – Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment to allow recreational use of marijuana overcame a preliminary hurdle to the 2024 vote by submitting more than enough petition signatures for Florida’s Supreme Court to review the measure.

The Smart and Safe Florida political committee, which is funded by multi-state cannabis operator Trulieve, had submitted 294,037 valid petition signatures as of Thursday afternoon, according to the State Elections Division website. At least 222,898 signatures are required for the proposed wording of the measure to be considered by the court, a key legal step in the process.

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Trulieve, Florida’s largest medical marijuana operator, has invested $20 million in the cause – all but $124.58 of the money raised so far. As of December 31, the committee has spent more than $19 million, with almost all of the costs related to collecting and verifying petitions.

The Supreme Court will review the proposal’s wording to ensure it only includes one issue and does not mislead voters. In 2021, judges rejected two ballot proposals aimed at allowing recreational use of marijuana.

If the Smart & Safe Florida committee wins Supreme Court approval, it will need to submit a total of 891,589 valid signatures to get on the 2024 ballot, with a certain number of signatures coming from at least half of the state’s congressional districts.

Under the “Personal Use of Marijuana by Adults” proposal, people aged 21 years and older would be allowed to “possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingesting, or otherwise.”

The proposal would also allow any of the state’s licensed medical marijuana operators to “purchase, grow, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories.” Florida currently has 22 licensed operators. The initiative does not allow people to grow marijuana plants for personal use.

The adoption of constitutional amendments requires the approval of 60% of voters.

The voting and initiative process is costly and complex due to several changes made by Florida legislators in recent years to make it harder for proposals to get on the ballot and pass them.

Perhaps the most complex of the restrictions prohibits petition collectors from being paid to sign, which requires workers to receive daily or hourly wages. Petition collectors, who travel frequently from one state to another to work on ballot initiatives, must also register in Florida.

The signature fee ban and other requirements have more than doubled the cost of submitting ballot proposals, industry experts say.

For example, supporters of a 2016 constitutional amendment to generally allow medical marijuana spent less than $14 million to get the measure on the ballot and get it passed by more than 71 percent of voters.

In contrast, Smart & Safe Florida has already surpassed that amount since starting its move in August.

“For those who wanted to make it more expensive and more difficult, they can forego the microphone. Mission accomplished, so to speak,” Steve Vankor, spokesman for Trulieve, told the Florida News Service.

The current petition process is “very labor intensive and time consuming,” Vankor said.

“It’s a lot more expensive and a lot more complicated than even we entering into this thought would be. And that’s why…$20 million, six months on the ground, not even halfway (with signatures),” he said.

The revision by the Supreme Court also creates uncertainty.

In June 2021, judges said the Sensible Florida political committee’s proposal for recreational marijuana included ballot language that would mislead voters. Two months earlier, a court had rejected a proposal by the Make It Legal Florida committee for recreational marijuana.

Supporters of the current proposal said they relied on court guidance from 2021. The proposal also gives lawmakers the final say on how the marijuana industry works.

Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers told the News Service in August that the nod to the Legislature was deliberate and pointed to a requirement that proposed constitutional amendments be limited to individual entities.

“Obviously, this language was written with previous court decisions in mind. The lawyers carefully read what the court’s warnings were on the previous ones, and then took this guidance and now put it in this language,” Vankor said on Thursday. “Legal teams have been checking and checking and checking and…trying not to make the same mistakes.”

Ultimately, the goal of the Smart & Safe Florida committee is to submit more than 1.1 million signatures to secure placement in front of voters.

“Do I think they can handle it? Yes. But this will require significant financial resources. I think there will be money. I think it generated a lot of enthusiasm,” Vankor said.

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