Florida Activists File Two New Ballot Initiatives To Legalize Adult-Use Marijuana

Two New Initiatives Filed With State Officials

Florida activists submitted two new proposed marijuana legalization ballot initiatives to state officials this week. The first measure comes from a group called Floridians for Marijuana. The second was filed by an organization called Let Florida Vote IV.

The two separate committees behind the initiatives share the same chair and treasurer. Let Florida Vote IV maintains a website where people can request that a copy of the petition be mailed to them to sign.

They join a still-pending legalization measure from Smart & Safe Florida, whose earlier initiative on the 2024 ballot won majority support but fell short of the 60 percent threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment in Florida.

What the Floridians for Marijuana Measure Would Do

The first measure would allow adults to legally use cannabis and possess up to two ounces of marijuana, including no more than five grams of cannabis concentrates. Existing medical cannabis dispensaries could sell recreational marijuana to adults as of the effective date, which would be six months after approval by voters.

New businesses would also be permitted to acquire, cultivate, process, transport and or sell marijuana to adults for personal use. Unlike current medical cannabis businesses, they would not be required to be vertically integrated.

The measure prohibits marketing and packaging marijuana in a manner attractive to children, as well as smoking or vaping cannabis in any public place. Owners of private property would keep the right to prohibit marijuana use on their premises.

Lawmakers would need to adopt legislation before the effective date concerning marijuana business licensing and regulating the time, place and manner of public cannabis consumption. “Nothing herein shall prohibit the legislature from providing for the home growing of marijuana by adults for their personal use and the reasonable regulation thereof,” the measure says.

Second Measure and Path to the 2028 Ballot

The Let Florida Vote IV initiative is similar but adds provisions contemplating a separate agency to license marijuana businesses beyond the Department of Health, which currently oversees medical cannabis. It states that existing medical marijuana treatment centers and licensed marijuana entities could acquire cannabis from, and sell or transfer it to one another.

The measure directs the legislature to pass a bill issuing cannabis business licenses “to any applicant meeting reasonable and objective qualifications,” with no fees “in excess of the reasonable cost of administration and enforcement.” If no such law passes by the effective date, the Department of Health would promulgate licensing rules within six months and begin issuing licenses within nine months of the effective date.

For any of the three pending measures to reach the 2028 ballot, organizers must submit 880,062 valid signatures from registered voters. Submission of 220,016 valid signatures will trigger a judicial and financial impact review from state officials.

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