No Recreational Pot On Florida Ballot this November

During this year’s midterms voters in some states will be voting for or against legal recreational marijuana but unfortunately Florida won’t be one of them.  Like the rest of the south, Florida still has some pretty strict laws regarding ganj however if any southern state is going to legalize anytime soon most would bet on Florida.  After all, they now have at least some counties where officers can use discretion to either civilly ticket OR criminally arrest anyone in possession of even a small amount.  Yes, you read that right – Depending on which officer you get, what kind of mood they’re in, how short they are on their quota, how much recognition they feel they deserve, how much they get off on ruining lives over a personal victimless choice and a multitude of other factors you could get off with a lucky break if ever caught in possession… And we use that term “lucky break” loosely.  The rest of the counties you’re still screwed.  There are at least a couple reasons why the sunshine state won’t be voting on recreational use this year and here they are.

Firstly, let’s take a look at Florida’s current situation with marijuana.  In November 2016, Florida voters favored the legalization of medical cannabis.  At first this seemed like good news but before the legal medicinal market could be created that following January the state had to first create laws and regulations for it.  Somehow this process seems to have gone smoothly for every other state that legalized medicinal prior to Florida but in the sunshine state things went a little differently.  Florida (mainly the Department of Health) took it upon itself to ban smokable marijuana, or flower.  You know… Arguably the most common way for patients to consume their medicine.

Florida voters then sued the state of Florida claiming that they only voted on legalization and never had an opportunity to vote on a method of consumption.  This legal battle has been going on since 2017 and as of writing this article is still ongoing.  Even though it’s now September 2018 and time to start discussing the 2018 midterm elections Florida is still trying to get 2016 straightened out.  The main force championing the voice of the people is John Morgan who’s been a fundamental advocate for legalization for years in the state of Florida.  And opposing smokable marijuana is current Attorney General Pam Bondi and current Governor Rick Scott.  If you would like them to change their political stance on the matter be sure to respectfully let them know.

The next challenge Florida is having with getting a recreational measure on the 2018 ballot is signatures.  In order for Florida voters to get to vote on this matter supporters needed to submit an amount of signatures equal to or greater than 8% of the total number of votes cast during the most recent presidential election, or 766,200, by February 1^st 2018.  Records show the number of signatures actually submitted was only 2,846 – not even 1% of the goal.  For a state that has over 13 million registered voters, of which 72% supported medicinal in 2016, this number is extremely low and unfortunately unacceptable to proceed with.  Additionally, signatures only remain valid for 2 years meaning they’ll be void when the 2020 elections roll around.

So for such a green state what was the challenge in raising such a small amount of signatures?  Is it that sentiment has changed in the sunshine state? Most likely not but Florida is what’s referred to as swing state.  It has its diverse, progressive populated areas and it’s more conservative, less diverse areas outside those major cities.  Depending on how much effort is made and where it can be easy to see how a vote could go one way or the other.  But with such a small amount of signatures it’s clear to see not that much effort was put forth.  Possibly because they’re still working on 2016.

So 2018 is a wash for our Floridian family but it’s a great time for the sunshine state to work on 2020.  Hey, considering we’ve heard of some pretty interesting potential presidential candidates for the 2020 election such as Kanye West, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mark Cuban I guess anything is possible in the world of politics and ballots.  Just stay tuned, remember to vote and above all let’s hope the people who need are able to gain legal access to relief.