TALLAHASSEE — The push for a Florida recreational marijuana amendment is coming directly to some voters’ mailboxes.
After facing defeat in its 2024 push for a recreational pot amendment, the group Smart & Safe Florida has launched a new amendment campaign for 2026.
As it pushes to collect nearly 900,000 petitions from Floridians across the stateto get its new proposal on the ballot, the campaign has mailed petitions directly to some voters. The petitions, which include prepaid return envelopes addressed to Smart & Safe Florida, are prepopulated with voters’ names, addresses and voter registration numbers.
A glossy postcard also included in the mail says that “most states that legalize marijuana do so on the second attempt: 2026 is our chance!”
It’s not clear how many petitions have been mailed out or to whom. Smart & Safe Florida declined to comment.
But its move comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis seeks to dramatically reform the process for citizens to amend the state constitution.
DeSantis has suggested requiring people who want to sign a petition in favor of getting an initiative on the ballot to do so in person at an elections office or by requesting one through a process similar to vote-by-mail. That would shut down a popular way that campaigns now collect forms: using petition circulators who stand outside grocery stores and other shops.
Under the governor’s proposal, Smart & Safe Florida’s tactic of direct mailing petitions would also likely not be allowed.
It’s unclear how Florida’s legislative leaders feel about the governor’s proposals. Florida Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez have not responded to requests for comment. Both men, though, dismissed DeSantis’ idea of taking up the proposals during a special session.
Smart & Safe Florida’s new initiative is similar to its 2024 effort in that it would allow adults to buy and use marijuana recreationa, although it includes new provisions such as prohibiting smoking or vaping marijuana in public.
DeSantis has cited fraud as a reason he wants to change the citizen initiative process.
Florida law enforcement has over the years arrested several petition circulators for multiple campaigns for filling out voter information fraudulently, including for the most recentmarijuana amendment campaign.
This past year, the state came down hard on the Amendment 4 effort to protect abortion access in the state, accusing the organizers of committing “widespread petition fraud.” The abortion amendment campaign denied any wrongdoing.
Smart & Safe Florida has sent voters petitions for their 2026 recreational marijuana push. Read More
