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Cannabis activists in Florida this week submitted a new initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, just two months after a similar measure failed to garner the super-majority of votes needed to pass in the November election. If approved for the ballot, voters will decide on the new initiative to legalize cannabis for adults in 2026, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday.
The group Smart & Safe Florida filed the initiative proposal with the state Division of Elections on Tuesday. If passed, the measure would legalize marijuana for adults aged 21 and older and establish a regulatory framework for the production and sale of recreational cannabis. Adults would be permitted to possess up to two ounces of cannabis and up to five grams of marijuana concentrates under the initiative.
New Initiative Includes Changes To 2024 Legalization Measure
The new initiative includes several changes compared to the 2024 ballot measure that are designed to address criticisms of the failed initiative. In one such criticism, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis argued that the measure would block the state legislature from passing laws about where cannabis can be consumed. Under the new initiative, “smoking and vaping of marijuana in any public place is prohibited,” CBS News reported on Wednesday. The new measure also prohibits “marketing and packaging of marijuana in a manner attractive to children.”
“I think this is good news,” Paula Savchenko, an attorney who specializes in cannabis law, said in a phone interview with the Florida News Service. “I think it’s really smart that they did address the issues that he did have, and so hopefully he’s more receptive to something like this in the future.”
The new measure also states that nothing in the initiative would “prohibit the legislature from providing for the home growing of marijuana by adults for their personal use and the reasonable regulation thereof,” according to a report from online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment. Some advocates of cannabis policy reform criticized last year’s ballot measure for failing to include a provision that would allow adults to grow cannabis at home.
Nearly 56% of voters supported Amendment 3, the cannabis legalization initiative that appeared on Florida ballots in the November general election. However, the measure fell short of the 60% of votes needed to pass under Florida state law. The measure was largely supported by Trulieve, the state’s biggest supplier of medical marijuana.
Like Amendment 3, the new initiative allows Florida’s current medical cannabis operators to sell recreational weed products to adults aged 21 and older. The proposal also requires the legislature to license new cannabis businesses that only sell recreational marijuana.
Proponents To Begin Collecting Signatures
Smart & Safe Florida plans to begin gathering the nearly 900,000 signatures from registered voters needed to place the measure on the ballot. If enough signatures are gathered and the state Supreme Court approves the language in the initiative, voters will decide on the proposal next year.
“When enough signatures are gathered to put this measure on the 2026 ballot, and upon Supreme Court approval, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote for adults over the age of 21 to have the ability to access the same freedom enjoyed by over half the country in consuming safe, lab-tested cannabis products in their own homes,” Smart & Safe Florida said in a Wednesday emailed statement cited by the Tallahassee Democrat.
“}]] Florida cannabis activists have filed a proposed ballot measure to legalize recreational weed, only two months after a similar initiative failed at the polls in November. Read More
