The Florida Supreme Court struck down a proposed ballot initiative Thursday that would have asked voters next year to decide whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana within the state.
In a 5-2 ruling, the court said the language of the ballot summary explaining the proposed initiative was “affirmatively misleading” because it did not make clear that marijuana is federally outlawed.
Of particular concern to the court was the first sentence of the ballot summary, and specifically its usage of the word “permits” to explain what passage of the initiative would mean for Floridians.
“Permits adults 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason,” reads part of the summary.
Indeed, the proposed initiative, if successful, would have added Florida to the ever-growing list of more than a dozen states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, however, and the court found the summary could have confused voters into falsely thinking otherwise, Chief Justice Charles Canady wrote for the majority.
“The summary’s unqualified use of the word ’[p]ermits’ strongly suggests that the conduct to be authorized by the amendment will be free of any criminal or civil penalty in Florida,” he wrote.
“A constitutional amendment cannot unequivocally ’permit’ or authorize conduct that is criminalized under federal law. And a ballot summary suggesting otherwise is affirmatively misleading,” he wrote.
Make It Legal Florida, an anti-prohibition group that proposed the measure, had collected over 556,000 signatures out of the 891,589 needed for it to make the 2022 ballot, the Miami Herald reported.
Florida state Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, objected to the proposed ballot measure and had asked the court to issue an opinion to decide whether or not the initiative was valid.
The measure aimed to legalize marijuana by amending the Florida state Constitution accordingly. At least 60% of voters would have needed to approve the measure for it to pass had it made the ballot.
Make It Legal Florida will now have to rewrite its proposal and start fresh should it seek to strive for the 2022 ballot, the Miami Herald reported. The group could not be reached for comment.
A majority of states have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana, including Florida, and more than a dozen have also legalized its usage for recreational purposes.
Marijuana remains federally prohibited on account of being classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, however.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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