Initiative to legalize adult cannabis use in Florida in 2026 qualifies for judicial review

by Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
June 3, 2025

Smart & Safe Florida, the political committee working to get a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults before the voters next year, has collected enough petition signatures to trigger a review of its ballot language and financial impact – a significant step toward ultimately getting the amendment before voters in 2026.

Smart & Safe Florida has collected more than 377,000 signatures. That’s well above the number required to trigger a state Supreme Court review. Specifically, at a minimum Smart & Safe Florida needed to collect 220,016 signatures  — or 25% of the 880,062 valid signatures from registered voters, with a minimum of 8% coming from voters in at least half of the state’s 28 congressional districts.

A similar proposal to legalize recreational cannabis in 2024 known as Amendment 3 received 56% of the vote, short of the 60% required for passage. Following that electoral loss, Smart & Safe secured approval to launch its campaign for the 2026 election.

The petition drive process comes at the same time that Smart & Safe Florida and other organizations are fighting a new law passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature last month that will make it significantly more difficult for citizen-led constitutional amendments to make it on a ballot in Florida.

Two weeks ago, Smart & Safe Florida and Florida Decides Healthcare, another group working to get a measure on the 2026 ballot, went before U.S. Federal District Judge Mark Walker to request that he block certain provisions of the law from taking effect – including the requirement that sponsors turn in completed petitions within 10 days after the voter signs the petition, a change from the previous deadline of 30 days.

Tallahassee attorney Glenn Burhans Jr. said, prior to the new law taking effect, Smart & Safe Florida was collecting 78,000 signatures per week. Since the law took effect, he told Walker, the group was collecting between just 12,000 and 15,000 signatures per week.

The next step in the process is for Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier to submit the proposed amendment’s ballot language to the Florida Supreme Court so it can begin its review. The court’s review is limited to whether the amendment conforms to a single subject and whether the ballot summary is clear.

When then Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody transmitted her letter to the Florida Court regarding Amendment 3 two years ago, she also informed the justices that she opposed the measure.

Uthmeier will likely do the same when he sends his letter to the Supreme Court. He chaired a political committee a year ago called Keep Florida Clean that was formed to oppose the weed measure.

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