Recreational Marijuana Effort Fizzles After Florida High Court Declines to Review

A move to allow Florida voters to decide if recreational marijuana should be legal in the state won’t be appearing on ballots anytime soon.

The Florida Supreme Court this week declined to hear a petition from Smart & Safe Florida. The declination essentially upholds the 1^st District Court of Appeals’ January ruling that allowed the disqualification of some 70,600 signatures on a ballot initiative.

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd last fall had directed county election officials to strike the petition signatures because they had been collected by non-Florida residents or were from voters deemed “inactive.” A circuit court had ruled against Byrd but on appeal, the 1^st District Court reversed.

“…The Secretary had specific statutory authority to provide directions to Supervisors on how they should perform their official duties. § 97.012(16), Fla. Stat.,” the 1^st DCA noted in January. “For this reason, we reverse the circuit court’s order declaring unlawful the Secretary’s written direction to the Supervisors regarding inactive voters, and we vacate the injunction.”

The Smart & Safe coalition said the state constitution allows citizens to propose a constitutional amendment, and that the effort had correctly gathered three times the required number of signatures. The coalition was largely backed by Trulieve, a major medical marijuana dispensary company, according to news reports.

The high court justices did not explain their reasons for declining to review the group’s appeal.

It’s the second time a recreational weed effort has been snubbed out in Florida. In 2024, a constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana in Florida won a majority of votes but fell short of the required 60% needed to pass.

Topics Florida Cannabis