Florida - Monday April 1, 2024: The Florida Supreme Court on Monday gave its approval to an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, clearing the way for the measure to appear on the ballot for the November general election.
The state's high court voted 5-2 to advance the proposal and that means that Florida voters will decide whether to allow companies that grow and sell medical marijuana to now sell it for recreational purposes to adults over 21. The ballot measure also would make possession of marijuana for personal use legal.
which would legalize marijuana for adults and create a regulated framework for commercial cannabis production and sales.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody opposed the initiative calling it deceptive because federal law still does not allow the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes. She argued that the court previously erred when it approved the language for the medical marijuana ballot initiative that voters passed in 2016.
The court’s review of the ballot language was limited to whether voters could understand it and that it contained a single issue, not on the merits of the proposal itself.
To become law, the ballot measure must receive at least 60% of the vote in the November election.