Florida voters will decide on cannabis legalization this November.
After a nearly year-long battle, Florida’s Supreme Court decided 5-2 on Monday that the language of a ballot measure to legalize adult use cannabis met the bar to proceed.
Ultimately, their decision came down to whether the language that will appear on the ballot was clear, stuck to a single subject, and didn’t mislead.
“Our role is narrow—we assess only whether the amendment conforms to the constitutionally mandated single-subject requirement, whether the ballot summary meets the statutory standard for clarity, and whether the amendment is facially invalid under the federal constitution. In light of those limited considerations, we approve the proposed amendment for placement on the ballot,” the court wrote in its opinion.
Amendment 3 asks voters to decide whether adults 21 and older should be allowed to “possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories.” The group behind the measure, Smart & Safe Florida, submitted more than one million signatures in favor of the measure last year (Florida’s process required at least 891,523 signatures from state residents).
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody turned to the state Supreme Court last May to challenge the measure, arguing that its wording is problematic.
“The attorney general opposes ballot placement because we think, in several ways, this ballot summary is misleading,” Moody’s representative Jeffrey DeSousa said when oral arguments took place in November.
One way it is misleading, DeSousa argued, is the word “allows,” which might lead voters to think the measure accomplishes more than its scope.
“We reject this argument,” the court wrote.
“The most natural reading of the word ‘allow’ suggests that other entities will be permitted to enter the market, subject to a state-licensing process. Licensing is a commonly understood activity of government agencies. Voters are familiar with obtaining other licenses from the state, such as a driver’s or contractor’s license. We do not believe the summary would confuse a voter into thinking that the Legislature is required to authorize additional licenses or that the amendment itself establishes a licensing scheme,” they continued.
Then there was the single-subject issue. The court noted the argument that the “proposed amendment violates the single-subject requirement because it both decriminalizes and commercializes recreational marijuana.”
The court disagreed with this argument, too.
“Allowing businesses to distribute personal-use marijuana, and authorizing individuals to
possess it, are logically and naturally related as part of a dominant plan or scheme. Legalization of marijuana presumes the product will be available for the consumer,” the court wrote.
“Likewise, the sale of personal use marijuana cannot be reasonably undertaken while possession is criminalized. Selling and possessing marijuana appear, for better or worse, directly connected, and we cannot say that an amendment addressing both components violates the single-subject requirement.”
Last year, Moody directly targeted the backers of Smart & Safe Florida. The campaign,, as Cannabis Wire has reported, and has raised a staggering amount of money. And Trulieve, which has the biggest medical cannabis footprint in Florida and is one of the largest cannabis companies in the U.S., contributed almost all of the $40 million the campaign raised just in the signature gathering phase of the process. For comparison, the entire 2016 campaign to legalize cannabis in California hit nearly $23 million.
Trulieve, Moody argued last year, would entrench its “monopolistic stranglehold on the marijuana market to the detriment of Floridians.”
“In its pursuit of a larger customer base and greater profits, Trulieve has invited millions of Floridians to join it in reckless violation of federal criminal law,” Moody continued.
Now that the hurdle of the state Supreme Court has been cleared, the next one looms: 60% of voters must approve the measure at the ballot box in November. However, recent polling shows strong support for legalization. A 2023 poll by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab found that 70% of those polled supported the effort to legalize.
If voters approve Amendment 3 on Election Day, the measure would take effect six months later.
