Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana have submitted more than 420,000 valid petition signatures to the state, nearly half the total needed to get on the 2024 ballot.
The Florida Division of Elections had received 420,072 valid signatures from the political committee Smart & Safe Florida as of Wednesday, according to the division’s website. The committee would need to submit at least 891,589 signatures to get on the ballot.
Last month, the committee topped a 222,898-signature threshold needed to trigger a crucial Florida Supreme Court review of the proposed ballot wording. Under the “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” proposal, people 21 or older would be allowed “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.”
Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, had spent $25 million as of the end of January on the Smart & Safe Florida initiative. Most of that money went to petition-related expenses. Florida voters approved medical marijuana in 2016.
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