Advocates React As Court Rejects Effort To Make Pot Legal In FL

FLORIDA — Celebrities, cannabis reform advocates and the man on the street are all weighing in on Thursday's decision by the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a ballot initiative by Florida voters legalizing the use of recreational marijuana.

The Florida Supreme Court voted 5-2 vote to toss out a constitutional ballot initiative sponsored by the political committee Make It Legal Florida that would have allowed adults age 21 and older to smoke recreational marijuana.

In the legal opinion written by Chief Justice Charles Canady, the court called the proposed amendment to the state constitution "affirmatively misleading," saying it implies that the Florida initiative will legalize recreational marijuana under federal law.

Canady maintained that a constitutional amendment cannot "unequivocally permit or authorize conduct that is criminalized under federal law."

Hoping to get the initiative on the 2022 ballot, Make It Legal has raised more than $8.2 million and collected more than 556,000 signatures out of the 891,589 needed.

However, the effort was preempted by Florida's Republican attorney general, Ashley Moody, who asked the Florida Supreme Court to review the initiative before it reaches voters.

The amendment would have legalized possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana and allow Florida residents to grow up to six marijuana plants per household but would prohibit residents from selling their cultivated crop.

The wording of the initiative is similar to those passed in 17 other states and the District of Columbia.

"Regulates marijuana (hereinafter 'cannabis') for limited use and growing by persons twenty-one years of age or older. State shall adopt regulations to issue, renew, suspend, and revoke licenses for cannabis cultivation, product manufacturing, testing and retail facilities. Local governments may regulate facilities’ time, place and manner and, if state fails to timely act, may license facilities. Does not affect compassionate use of low-THC cannabis, nor immunize federal law violations."

Notably absent from the effort to put the recreational marijuana issue initiative on the ballot was Florida personal injury attorney John Morgan who bankrolled a 2016 ballot initiative to approve the use of medical marijuana. That initiative was passed by 70 percent of voters in 2016.

Although Morgan said he still believes in legalizing marijuana, he said he's "too old to care" about the recreational marijuana issue. Instead, he devoted his efforts and money to passing the 2019 minimum wage hike ballot initiative.

However, other advocates around the country took to Twitter to blast the Florida Supreme Court's ruling.

Among them was actor Jim Belushi, an outspoken advocate for recreational marijuana who said he's been growing cannabis since 2016.

"If my brother John was a pothead, he’d be alive today. And that’s why I got into this. To heal my own trauma and help people get off opioids. That’s the 'mission from God,'" Belushi tweeted.

He then retweeted a survey from the Pew Research Center showing that the majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana.

While some political analysts say the court's April 22 ruling doesn't leave enough time for advocates to gather 891,000 signatures for a new ballot initiative, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, a proponent of legalizing marijuana, is betting the recreational marijuana question will still appear on the 2022 ballot.

“Florida voters have taken this into their own hands because the Florida Legislature failed to do right by the people in taking legislative action on legalization,” said Fried. “My advice is that they listen to the will of the people or they’ll be out of a job soon."

Make It Legal Florida has not commented on whether it will launch a new petition drive to place a recreational marijuana amendment on the Nov. 8, 2022, ballot.