Marijuana uses a sponsored effort to legalize cannabis in Florida Florida suffered a major setback on Friday when a state judge ruled more than 200,000 signatures invalid.
The decision highlights Smart & Safe Florida’s effort to legalize abortion and is a major win for the administration of Gov. Ron Desantis, a long-time opponent of legalized cannabis who moved to fight the signatures.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the decision by Leon County Circuit Judge John invalidates nearly one-third of the 675,307 signs collected and sent by the campaign.
A spokesperson for Smart & Safe said the campaign will appeal this decision.
But if it stands, the campaign now faces a major challenge to collect the 880,000 signatures needed before the Feb. deadline. 1.
Will Florida Legalize Adult Marijuana in 2026?
The setback comes after the State previously admitted that the SMART & Safe Law enforcement campaign had collected valid signatures to trigger the review process.
That happened only after a different case, filed smart & safe, it is suspected that the desantis managers deliberately plowed the process.
Cooper’s decision came to court in a court that challenged the division of the October State of Loctives Decisions that ordered the local authorities to reject the proposed non-filed applications.
The state claimed Smart & Safe Florida used an unauthorized form by adding a link to its website at the back of the application, which was identical to an otherwise permitted form on the back page.
Ben Gibson, an attorney with Shuts and Bowen representing Secretary of State Cord Byrd, said during Friday’s hearing that “signatures received on an unauthorized form cannot be counted.”
Cooper agreed, saying that adding the text to the back of the complaint constituted a “material change” to the approved structure.
“If a person does not use the forms prescribed by the Secretary of State, then they are not valid,” Cooper said.
A Serious Legal Challenge Paid to the Law
The backlash could be the most serious yet for the effort to legalize adult cannabis use in Florida.
Almost all of the $25.8 million in funding so far has come from Tatahassee-based MSO TRYLEWASIS CORP., according to campaign finance records.
Trulieve also sponsored the November 2024 Constitutional Amendment found in Donald Trump. Although it received a lot of support, it fell short of the 60% threshold needed to become law.
Subscribe to MJBIZ TRCROCK
Exclusive industry data and analysis to help you make informed business decisions and prevent costly missteps. All facts, no hype.
What you will get:
- Monthly and quarterly updates, with new data and insights
- Financial Forecasts + Financial Investment Trends
- A state-by-state guide to the state of regulations, taxation and market opportunities
- Annual survey of cannabis businesses
- Consumer understanding
- And more!
According to Glenn Burhan, a lawyer who represents SMART & safe, the campaign must submit facts a month before the month before the month of February 1 to allow verification.
With a new federal law that went into effect in July requiring a full amendment to the law enforcement agency’s 90-day sign-up process, the pressure is mounting.
