Florida Tries Again

Florida voters could have the chance to legalize adult-use cannabis in the next general election. The language on the ballot initiative must be approved by the Florida Supreme Court, despite possible opposition from other branches of state government. Floridians will be able to reflect on how free Florida is as they watch their elected officials fight against legalizing cannabis.
To get an initiative on the Florida ballot, sponsors must collect a minimum number of signatures under the Florida Constitution. Before the initiative can be placed on the ballot, it must be reviewed by both the Florida Attorney General (FAG) and the Financial Impact Estimating Conference(FIEC). To have these reviews take place, sponsors must already have collected 25% of the required signatures. This threshold has been reached by the sponsors of the current initiative.
The law requires that the Attorney General request an advisory opinion from Florida Supreme Court “regarding compliance of the text or revision of the proposed amendment or modification with s. 3 [of the Florida Statutes].” XI of Florida’s Constitution, whether the proposed amendment is facially null under the United States Constitution and the compliance of [Section] 101.161 [of Florida Statutes] with the proposed ballot title, substance and text.” Section 101.161 requires that a summary of any proposed amendment be printed on the ballot in clear and unambiguous language.
How Florida’s cannabis legalization was a failure in 2022
The current push for legalization on the ballot is a continuation of an earlier, unsuccessful effort in the leadup the 2022 election. The Florida Supreme Court rejected the ballot proposal in 2000 on the grounds it did not meet Section 101.161. The court found that the inclusion of the verb “permits,” in the ballot summary would have misled voters into believing that recreational marijuana use in Florida would be exempt from criminal and other repercussions. However, federal law would still criminalize the underlying conduct.
Opponents of 2022 Initiative (a group that included both the Florida Legislature and Attorney General) argued the proposed amendment was in fact facially invalid according to the U.S. Constitution. The Florida Supreme Court decided not to address the issue and instead relied on Section 101.161 for its decision. Opponents will push for the federal constitutional argument harder if the current initiative’s language is not subject to attack on grounds it violates the single subject and/or ballot title requirements.
According to the Florida Supreme Court’s 2022 ballot initiative decision, it may be open to such an argument. Although the court rejected the amendment allegedly because of a defect in the ballot language, its application of the relevant statute was extremely strict. Justice Lawson, dissident from the court’s opinion, noted that the court had “never required a ballot summary inform voters about the current state of federal laws.” Would the outcome be different if the subject of the amendment was not cannabis?
Florida should allow its citizens to decide on legalization of cannabis.
Although Florida state officials are free to oppose legalization of cannabis, it is odd to see them try to limit Florida’s sovereignty and deny Floridians the right to vote at the polls. Florida officials should be defending the federal government’s questionable use under the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause to regulate cannabis-related activity. One would expect Free Florida to lead the fight against federal overreach. This can be done by letting Floridians decide what kind of cannabis laws they want in Florida, and not federal or state officials.