Florida Cannabis Legalization Campaign Pays Firm $1M+ to Gather Signatures

A cannabis advocacy group in Florida has paid a signature-gathering firm more than $1 million hoping to obtain nearly 900,000 signatures to put a cannabis legalization question on 2024 ballots, WFTV9 reports. The Smart and Safe Florida effort is aimed at letting voters decide on a constitutional amendment during the next presidential election.

The proposed amendment, called “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” would allow anyone 21 or older “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and accessories.” If approved, the amendment language gives the final say on how the industry is structured to the state Legislature. The campaign filed paperwork with the state Division of Elections earlier this month, according to a WPTV report.

Medical cannabis company Trulieve has contributed $5 million toward the effort, according to WPTV.

A March survey on the reforms by Public Policy Polling suggested a majority of Floridians support adult-use legalization. The poll of more than 500 Florida voters found 59% approved of legalization, 31% were opposed, and 10% were unsure.

Florida voters in 2016 passed a constitutional amendment to legalize medical cannabis and, so far, nearly 800,000 patients have been authorized for the program. That poll also found 49% of respondents agreed (23% opposed, 29% unsure) that potency limits – which were enacted last month – serve as a tax on medical cannabis since patients would have to consume more cannabis to get the same effect. The survey also found 61% agreed (20% disagreed and 20% unsure) that limiting THC was “just another way for Tallahassee politicians to try and ignore the will of Florida voters.” The poll also found 77% of Floridians agreed that limiting THC inserted lawmakers into what should be a decision between patients and their doctors.

Following the implementation of the limits, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried called on the state Department of Health and Office of Medical Marijuana to roll back the new rules, describing the changes as “unnecessary, its implementation poorly noticed, and its impacts extremely harmful with hundreds of thousands of patients in Florida no longer able to access their medicine in the quantities they need for efficient treatment as determined by their doctors.”