TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — 2 months after a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana failed in Florida, the political committee behind the measure is trying again.
In November, a majority of Floridians voted in favor of Amendment 3, but fell just shy of the 60% support required to pass partly due to state-sponsored efforts lead by Gov. Ron Desantis.
Smart and Safe Florida filed a revamped proposal Tuesday, with some new changes from the hotly-contested 2024 version.
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“It appears that the sponsors of the amendment have attempted to address in this new language concerns raised by those opposed to the amendment,” Jim McKee, an attorney who represents medical-marijuana companies, told The News Service of Florida.
The new version would prohibit smoking or vaping marijuana in any public place, as well as the “marketing and packaging of marijuana in a manner attractive to children”. Adults 21 and over would be allowed to possess 2 ounces of marijuana, an ounce less than what would have been permitted under last year’s proposal.
Gov. Desantis also contested the heavy hand that marijuana giant Trulieve had in the previous version’s conception. As the state’s largest medical-marijuana company, Trulieve pumped more than $144 million into last year’s recreational-pot effort. It contributed more than 94 percent of the overall total of $152.27 million in cash raised by the Smart & Safe Florida committee.
Read: Here’s a look at how legal marijuana might be regulated in Florida
Trulieve and the state’s other medical-marijuana companies would have been allowed to sell cannabis to anyone in Florida, including tourists, ages 21 and older.
While this would still be allowed, lawmakers would be required to pass legislation for the “licensure and regulation of Licensed Marijuana Entities” that don’t sell medical marijuana. The proposal also says that the new entities “shall not” be required to comply with a state law that requires medical-marijuana companies to handle all aspects of the cannabis trade, a process known as “vertical integration,” requiring companies to grow, process and sell marijuana and cannabis-derived products.
The proposal would open the door to wholesaling marijuana to the new entities, according to Paula Savchenko, an attorney who specializes in cannabis law.
“We’re one of really the only established markets in the country that doesn’t have a wholesale market. So I think it would be really, really good for the industry and for patients and customers to be able to reap the benefits of a wholesale market, because then we’ll have other groups coming in and have a better variety of products,” she said.
Still, the petition could face new challenges not present in the lead up to last year’s election.
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The governor on Monday called a special legislative session that could include making changes in laws about the process for gathering and submitting petitions to get proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot. DeSantis contends that the process has led to fraud.
While DeSantis hasn’t proposed legislation, changes could make it harder for Smart & Safe Florida to amass the hundreds of thousands of petition signatures that would be needed to get on the ballot. The special session is scheduled to start Jan. 27, though legislative leaders have been weary about holding it.
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