Florida Supreme Court Deals Blow to Marijuana Ballot Initiative April 26, 2021
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a potentially fatal blow to supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at legalizing recreational marijuana under certain circumstances.
The justices ruled that the initiative’s ballot summary is “misleading” in part because it does not spell out that recreational marijuana possession and distribution remains a federal crime.
“The point is that a summary should not contain language that is affirmatively misleading and creates a risk that voters will be confused,” the majority justices wrote in a 5-2 ruling.
The ruling came after Attorney General Ashley Moody requested an advisory opinion on whether the marijuana initiative was valid.
Friday, April 23, 2021
On April 22, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court struck down a high-profile effort to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Florida. Justices reviewed a constitutional ballot initiative sponsored by the political committee
Make It Legal Florida and, in a 5‒2 decision, ruled it to be “misleading.” In an opinion written by Chief Justice Charles Canady, a majority of justices took issue with
Make It Legal Florida’s use of the word “permit” in the initiative’s ballot summary. The justices argued that the amendment did not effectively advise Floridians that, although marijuana use would be allowed under Florida law if the amendment were to pass, marijuana would still be illegal federally.
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at allowing people to use recreational marijuana, saying it would be misleading to voters.
Backers of the proposed amendment sought to put it on the 2022 ballot and had submitted hundreds of thousands of petition signatures. But in a 5-2 ruling, the Supreme Court said the proposed ballot summary - wording that people see when they cast ballots - would mislead “voters into believing that the recreational use of marijuana in Florida will be free of any repercussions, criminal or otherwise.”
That conclusion stemmed from marijuana remaining illegal under federal law. The proposed ballot summary said the amendment would permit “adults 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason.”