Florida marijuana activists are making another push to place adult-use legalization before voters in 2022, filing a new petition with the state after previous versions of the reform were rejected by the state Supreme Court earlier this year. The proposed constitutional amendment, which was approved for an initial signature-gathering last week, would allow adults 21 and older to use and possess cannabis. They could also grow up to nine plants for personal use. The initiative would not provide for retail sales, however. Regulate Florida is leading the campaign and stressed that time is limited to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Activists must first collect 222,898 valid signatures to prompt a judicial and fiscal impact review, then they need a total of 891,589 signatures to make the ballot. That first hurdle has created headaches for advocates this year. After the state attorney general’s office requested a judicial review of the group’s prior legalization initiative—and filed briefs opposing the petitions—the state Supreme Court rejected it, as well as a separate reform proposal from an industry-backed campaign, because justices deemed the language misleading.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 09/20/2021 14:34:00