Smart & Safe Florida, the group working to place a recreational marijuana initiative on the 2026 general election ballot, has asked a federal judge to expand his earlier ruling that blocked parts of the state’s petition law, arguing it illegally restricts who can collect signatures.
Attorneys for Smart and Safe Florida, the group behind a marijuana legalization initiative their working to place on the 2026 general election ballot, asked U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in an August 12 hearing to prevent state attorneys from enforcing restrictions on petition circulators. Their argument centers on the First Amendment, with attorney Glenn Burhans saying that without relief against prosecutors, nonresident circulators won’t feel free to gather signatures.
Last month, Walker issued a preliminary injunction halting the provision that barred nonresidents and noncitizens from collecting petitions, ruling it placed a “severe burden on political expression.” Burhans told Walker that because of that finding, the state’s threat of criminal penalties still needs to be fully blocked for out-of-state circulators to return to the field.
“I think Smart and Safe clearly has standing to challenge the nonresident circulator criminal penalties,” said Burhans. “The harm is traceable and addressable as to the state attorneys, and in order to get complete relief, frankly, Smart and Safe needs to have the state attorneys enjoined so that their circulators, the nonresidents, will go back out in the field and do their work.”
Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s outside counsel, Mohammad Jazil, pushed back, raising concerns over jurisdiction while the state appeals Walker’s original injunction. He said filing another motion for preliminary relief complicates the case.
Smart and Safe Florida is joined in the challenge by Florida Decides Healthcare, which backs Medicaid expansion, and Florida Right to Clean Water. The law, HB 1205, took effect July 1.
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