Florida now has three separate proposed constitutional amendments seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in 2028, including two initiatives filed with state officials this week.
The Florida Division of Elections approved an “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” initiative, designated 26-01, on September 30. A second, closely related version of the proposal, designated 26-03, was sent to the state’s Financial Impact Estimating Conference on September 29 and remains pending.
Both join Smart & Safe Florida’s existing legalization initiative, which was originally filed in January 2025 for an effort to reach the 2026 ballot and remains active, with the state now listing it for the 2028 election.
Initiative 26-01 is sponsored by the newly formed political committee Floridians for Marijuana. It would legalize possession, purchase and use of marijuana for adults 21 and older, with a possession limit of 2 ounces, including no more than five grams of marijuana concentrate.
The proposal would prohibit marijuana smoking and vaping in public places and prohibit marketing and packaging designed to appeal to children. Existing Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers could sell to adults, while separately licensed marijuana businesses could cultivate, process, transport or sell marijuana without being required to operate as vertically integrated companies.
The Legislature would be required to establish rules for licensing and regulating those businesses before the amendment takes effect. The measure would not itself legalize home cultivation, but explicitly allows lawmakers to authorize and regulate home growing in the future.
If approved by voters, the amendment would take effect on the first day of the sixth month following the election.
The second proposal filed this week, Initiative 26-03, is sponsored by Let Florida Vote IV and contains several additional provisions designed to guarantee broader business licensing.
Under that measure, Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers and newly licensed marijuana businesses could buy, sell and transfer marijuana among one another. The Legislature would be required to make licenses available to applicants meeting “reasonable and objective qualifications,” while licensing fees could not exceed the reasonable cost of administering and enforcing the program.
If lawmakers failed to establish the licensing system by the amendment’s effective date, the state would be required to adopt licensing regulations within six months and begin issuing licenses within nine months.
The measure would similarly allow adults to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana, including no more than five grams of concentrate.
The two newly filed campaigns are closely connected organizationally. Floridians for Marijuana and Let Florida Vote IV list Zack Whitson as chairperson, Gloria Maggiolo as treasurer and the same Jacksonville Beach address. Floridians for Marijuana registered as a political committee in July, while Let Florida Vote IV registered in August.
The third legalization proposal is Initiative 25-01 from Smart & Safe Florida. Its language closely resembles Initiative 26-01, including the 21-and-older requirement, 2-ounce possession limit, five-gram concentrate limit and provisions allowing businesses outside the existing medical marijuana system to receive licenses.
Smart & Safe Florida previously sought to qualify a legalization measure for the 2026 ballot, but the campaign fell short of the number of valid signatures recognized by the state before the deadline. The Florida Supreme Court subsequently dismissed its review of the initiative in February after the attorney general withdrew the request.
Florida voters have already come close to approving recreational marijuana. Amendment 3 received 55.9% support in November 2024, with nearly 6 million Floridians voting yes, but it failed because constitutional amendments in Florida require at least 60% approval.
For the 2028 ballot, each citizen initiative currently needs 880,062 valid signatures statewide, with required geographic distribution across congressional districts.
The three proposals remain at an early stage in the qualification process, but their filings mean Florida could again see a major push to put recreational marijuana legalization before voters in 2028.
