420 with CNW — Florida Activists Close to Meeting Signature Goal to Qualify Marijuana Legalization Bill for Ballot
Cannabis advocates in the state of Florida have gathered 841,130 signatures for a ballot initiative to legalize cannabis. A poll published recently shows that 70% of residents in the state favor the idea of approving a constitutional amendment to enact marijuana legalization. Data released by the Florida Division of Elections estimates that the legalization campaign may soon reach the 891,523 signature mandate by the end of May.
Earlier this year, advocates had collected enough signatures to commence a state review by the Supreme Court regarding the text of the measure. By February’s end, the campaign had already surpassed 420,000 signatures with this figure rising to 635,961 by the end of March.
The state’s Supreme Court will focus on ensuring that the language of the legislation doesn’t mislead voters or violate the constitution’s single-subject rule. If the court rules that the measure meets the set standards, then the legalization campaign will only be required to submit enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Previous attempts to place adult-use legalization resolutions on the ballot have been rejected and/or challenged by the court, which opined that the text of proposed initiatives were misleading.
The state of Florida approved a medical marijuana constitutional amendment in 2016.
Smart&Safe Florida, the organization that filed the marijuana legislation last summer, is being sponsored almost entirely by Trulieve, the largest medical cannabis operator in Florida. Trulieve granted seed money that helped get the campaign going and is said to have contributed roughly $25 million to these efforts.
The bill’s approval will allow existing medical marijuana companies in the state to start selling cannabis to all individuals aged 21 years of age and older. It also contains a provision that would permit legislators to approve additional businesses that are not licensed marijuana dispensaries. Individuals aged 21 and older would be allowed to buy and possess no more than an ounce of marijuana, only 5g of which could be cannabis concentrate products.
However, the resolution excludes provisions such as relief for individuals with previous marijuana convictions and expungements. It should be noted that home growing by consumers would also not be permitted. The bill would take effect six months after it was approved by voters in Florida.
Meanwhile, advocates who aren’t directly involved in the campaign revealed in 2022 that they were looking into plans to have voters decide on what would be a complementary resolution that would allow adults to cultivate their own marijuana at home.
Opening up home cultivation of marijuana by adults would open up exciting opportunities for out-of-state enterprises such as Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) that focus on making indoor cultivation equipment for high-value crops including cannabis.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ACTX
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW420, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer
Cannabis advocates in the state of Florida have gathered 841,130 signatures for a ballot initiative to legalize cannabis. A poll published recently shows that 70% of residents in the state favor the idea of approving a constitutional amendment to enact marijuana legalization. Data released by the Florida Division of Elections estimates that the legalization campaign may soon reach the 891,523 signature mandate by the end of May.
Earlier this year, advocates had collected enough signatures to commence a state review by the Supreme Court regarding the text of the measure. By February’s end, the campaign had already surpassed 420,000 signatures with this figure rising to 635,961 by the end of March.
The state’s Supreme Court will focus on ensuring that the language of the legislation doesn’t mislead voters or violate the constitution’s single-subject rule. If the court rules that the measure meets the set standards, then the legalization campaign will only be required to submit enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Previous attempts to place adult-use legalization resolutions on the ballot have been rejected and/or challenged by the court, which opined that the text of proposed initiatives were misleading.
The state of Florida approved a medical marijuana constitutional amendment in 2016.
Smart&Safe Florida, the organization that filed the marijuana legislation last summer, is being sponsored almost entirely by Trulieve, the largest medical cannabis operator in Florida. Trulieve granted seed money that helped get the campaign going and is said to have contributed roughly $25 million to these efforts.
The bill’s approval will allow existing medical marijuana companies in the state to start selling cannabis to all individuals aged 21 years of age and older. It also contains a provision that would permit legislators to approve additional businesses that are not licensed marijuana dispensaries. Individuals aged 21 and older would be allowed to buy and possess no more than an ounce of marijuana, only 5g of which could be cannabis concentrate products.
However, the resolution excludes provisions such as relief for individuals with previous marijuana convictions and expungements. It should be noted that home growing by consumers would also not be permitted. The bill would take effect six months after it was approved by voters in Florida.
Meanwhile, advocates who aren’t directly involved in the campaign revealed in 2022 that they were looking into plans to have voters decide on what would be a complementary resolution that would allow adults to cultivate their own marijuana at home.
Opening up home cultivation of marijuana by adults would open up exciting opportunities for out-of-state enterprises such as Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) that focus on making indoor cultivation equipment for high-value crops including cannabis.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ACTX
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW420, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer
