Florida Marijuana Group Joins Legal Challenge Against Ballot Initiative Restrictions

Backers of the 2024 recreational marijuana constitutional amendment in Florida, led by the group Smart & Safe Florida, have joined a federal lawsuit challenging HB 1205, a new law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis that imposes significant restrictions on the ballot initiative process. The law introduces measures such as banning felons, noncitizens, and non-Florida residents from circulating petitions, requiring additional identifying information, creating new crimes with harsher penalties, and shortening submission deadlines, which opponents argue effectively undermine Floridians' constitutional right to amend the state Constitution. Smart & Safe Florida contends that these changes, which took effect immediately, unfairly disrupt ongoing efforts to place initiatives on the 2026 ballot, including their own proposals to legalize recreational marijuana and allow medical marijuana patients to grow cannabis. The group has criticized the law as "legislative gaslighting," asserting it is not genuinely aimed at preventing fraud but rather designed to restrict citizen-led initiatives. U.S. Chief District Judge Mark Walker has granted Smart & Safe Florida's request to intervene in the lawsuit originally filed by another committee seeking Medicaid expansion on the ballot, and a court conference is scheduled to discuss the case's progression. Supporters of the law argue that policy changes should be made through the Legislature rather than constitutional amendments, reflecting a broader political effort to tighten control over ballot measures following recent high-profile initiatives on marijuana and abortion.