The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana will be voted on during November’s election.
Last year the Florida Division of Elections verified that the nonprofit organization Smart & Safe Florida submitted 967,528 valid signatures for their initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. This is more than the 891,523 signatures required to put the measure a on the November, 2024 presidential election ballot.
If passed by voters this November, Amendment 3 would allow those 21 and older “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.”
The initiative would establish a system of licensed marijuana retail outlets, with any of the state’s licensed medical-marijuana dispensaries allowed to “acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories.”
Despite the initiative receiving well more than enough valid signatures, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a legal challenge seeking to remove the proposal from the ballot. Now, the state’s Supreme Court has ruled against Moody’s challenge, and in favor of allowing the initiative to appear on the November ballot. Opponents of Amendment 3 now have no further legal avenue to prevent the initiative from being voted on later this year.
Polling released in November found support among likely voters to be at 67%. For the initiative to be enacted into law, it will need to be approved with a 60% majority, given it’s a constitutional amendment.
