The Florida Supreme Court rejected a proposed amendment that would legalize adult-use cannabis in the state, claiming that the proposal would be misleading to voters.
In a 5-2 vote, the court ruled the use of the word “permits” is misleading because the drug is still illegal at the federal level. The justices argued the proposed amendment didn’t properly explain that although cannabis would be legal in Florida, it is still federally illegal.
The proposal, led by the group Make It Legal Florida, aimed to legalize recreational cannabis and permit adults ages 21 and over to consume cannabis and to possess up to 2.5 ounces. The proposal received over 556,000 signatures in support but fell short of the 891,589 needed for ballot inclusion. Backers of the proposal had hoped to get recreational cannabis on the 2022 ballot, but now, they’re not sure if it will be on a future ballot at all. Florida lawmakers had still believed they would legalize recreational cannabis earlier this month.
“A Constitutional amendment cannot unequivocally ‘permit’ or authorize conduct that is criminalized under federal law,” Chief Justice Charles Canady wrote. “A ballot summary suggesting otherwise is affirmatively misleading.”
Similar issues arose in the Florida Supreme Court when the state legalized medical cannabis in 2016. Canady said that backers of the 2016 initiative avoided this problem by noting in their ballot summary that their initiative does not “immunize” Floridians from “violations of federal law.” Orlando attorney John Morgan, who ran the medical cannabis initiative in 2016, said his original proposals in 2013 and 2014 were nearly rejected because of this same issue.
Two bills are currently going through the legislature that would make it more difficult for citizen ballot initiatives to get approval. One would limit contributions to ballot initiative campaigns to $3,000, and another would raise the total vote needed for approval from 60 percent to 66 percent.
