Florida voters could face three separate proposals seeking to legalize recreational marijuana when the state’s 2028 election arrives.
The Division of Elections gave the go-ahead to the Floridians for Marijuana initiative on September 30. A second measure, backed by Let Florida Vote IV, is still awaiting consideration by the Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference. Both groups are led by the same political team, with Zack Whitson serving as chair and Gloria Maggiolo as treasurer.
The campaigns are entering a field already occupied by Smart and Safe Florida, which is supported by medical marijuana giant Trulieve.
Trulieve spent over $145 million supporting a 2024 legalization amendment. The measure fell short of Florida’s 60% threshold for constitutional amendments by 4%.
The company later provided about $67 million for Smart and Safe Florida’s effort to place another legalization measure on this year’s ballot. However, that failed after Cord Byrd, Secretary of State, instructed election officials to reject almost 71,000 petition signatures. The Florida Supreme Court declined to take up the dispute.
Smart and Safe Florida has continued working toward 2028, but it must gather approximately 880,000 valid signatures, equivalent to 8% of registered voters. Reaching roughly 220,000 signatures triggers state financial and judicial reviews.
The Floridians for Marijuana measure would permit people aged 21 and over to buy and possess cannabis from licensed retailers. The measure would set a possession ceiling of 2 ounces of marijuana and 5 grams of concentrates.
Medical marijuana operators licensed by January 1, 2025, could shift into the recreational market six months after the proposal is approved. Future businesses would not have to follow the vertically integrated model used by existing medical operators and could specialize in cultivation, processing, transportation, or retail sales.
The proposal would prohibit cannabis packaging and advertising designed to appeal to children. Vaping or smoking marijuana in public spaces would also be banned, while property owners could prohibit cannabis use on their premises. The measure would not prevent lawmakers from permitting home cultivation or regulating non-smoked products.
It would preserve laws against driving while impaired, leave federal restrictions unchanged, and allow the Legislature to impose taxes on marijuana sales.
The Let Florida Vote IV proposal takes a similar approach but would permit medical marijuana companies licensed by the 2028 election to enter the recreational market. It would also expressly allow recreational and medical operators to trade cannabis with one another.
Another distinction is the creation of a dedicated licensing authority for new recreational businesses. If lawmakers do not establish one, the Health Department would assume that responsibility. The proposal also sets deadlines for licensing and regulatory action if the lawmakers fail to act.
The differences may reflect an effort to provide an alternative should one measure face challenges under Florida’s single-subject requirement. Recent legalization campaigns have kept proposals narrowly focused after the state Supreme Court rejected earlier initiatives.
That constraint has also kept the 2028 measures from addressing broader issues such as home growing, automatic record clearing, and social-equity programs, which could face greater scrutiny during the review process.
Marijuana companies like Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) will be wondering whether having so many options on the ballot will not confuse voters and result in each measure performing more poorly than it would have had there been only one option.
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