Original photo by For the 2020 election, we probably won’t see a ballot measure that legalizes recreational marijuana use here in Florida.
Before getting into this, we’d like to express how unfortunate it is that we have to rely on passing Florida constitutional amendments to make changes desired by the population. The law makers of the state could work together and prevent this by addressing the will of the people by passing similar legislation. Remember, amendments can only be changed by another amendment(s) during an election, which means if the language needs a fix, that’s at least a two year wait.
The 2020 Amendments
There are four potential amendments related to marijuana in the upcoming election, however, none of them will make it on the ballot.
Make It Legal Florida
This is the one that most of you have seen, it is sponsored by Mad Men
and Parallel (formally Surterra Wellness). Expands the sell of marijuana
to anyone over 21 and doesn’t require a medical marijuana certification.
However, it lacks the language to allow individuals to grow their own
plants, so all products (just like the current amendment) must be
purchased through a
dispensary. At least if this passed you wouldn’t have the expense of
visiting a doctor every seven months to get certified. There’s a very
small chance that this will make it on the ballot as they still need
over
five hundred thousand more signatures by February 1st (even sooner
actually) to hit the 766,200 threshold.
Amendment Summary
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=74455&seqnum=2
Full Text
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/InitiativeForms/Fulltext/Fulltext_1911_EN.pdf
Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol to Establish Age, Licensing, and Other Restrictions
This amendment would be our preferred choice as it legalizes marijuana
usage for all over the age of 21 and allows individuals to grow up to
six plants. You would no longer be required to pay for medical marijuana
certifications and if you’d prefer to grow, you could also avoid the
dispensaries. The language is geared to regulate like alcohol which
seems like the best path for recreational marijuana. Unfortunately, we
won’t see this on the ballot in 2020.
Amendment Summary
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=64837&seqnum=2
Full Text
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/InitiativeForms/Fulltext/Fulltext_1602_EN.pdf
Marijuana Plants for Medical Marijuana Patients
A minor edit to the 2016 medical marijuana amendment that enables
medical marijuana patients to grow their own plants. An exciting
addition this may have been, but we won’t see it on the 2020 ballot.
Amendment Summary
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=70183&seqnum=3
Full Text
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/InitiativeForms/Fulltext/Fulltext_1805_EN.pdf
Expanded Medical Marijuana to Include Mental Health
Another minor edit to the 2016 law that expands the “named” conditions
to include several more mental health disorders where patients would
auto-qualify for a medical marijuana certification. This will not be on
the 2020 ballot.
Amendment Summary
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=70183&seqnum=1
Full Text
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/InitiativeForms/Fulltext/Fulltext_1802_EN.pdf
So now what?
Our advice on this, and for any law, is to call your Florida senators and house members and make your voice heard.
