Florida Supreme Court Silent on Cannabis Measure Ahead of April 1 Deadline

Editor's note: The Florida Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision April 1 that the proposed constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use cannabis includes sufficient ballot language to appear before voters this November. That story is here. 

With just four days left before an April 1 deadline, the Florida Supreme Court still hasn’t issued a final ruling on the language for a proposed adult-use cannabis amendment to land on the November 2024 ballot.

While the clerk’s office usually releases new opinions at 11 a.m. each Thursday, no such opinions came on March 28, the final Thursday before the April 1 deadline.

Instead, as many industry stakeholders were busy hitting the refresh button on their web browsers, the court announced at 11:05 a.m. on social media, “There are no Florida Supreme Court opinions ready for release today, March 28, 2024.”

In addition to their normal judicial review on the proposed cannabis ballot language, the state’s top justices are also considering whether a proposed abortion-rights referendum’s language is fit to appear before voters.

The Supreme Court regularly reviews citizen-initiated amendments to determine if a ballot language is clear and unambiguous in a manner that does not mislead voters, and if a proposal includes no more than one subject matter.

Zachary Kobrin, a Fort Lauderdale-based partner at Saul Ewing who specializes in cannabis law, told Cannabis Business Times that while it’s unusual for the Supreme Court to veer from its normal 11 a.m. Thursday schedule for releasing opinions, the court is not legally bound by this schedule.

“Never seen this, honestly,” he said. “Technically, they can issue it whenever [but before the April 1 deadline] … There’s another really controversial ballot measure they are deciding on, so hopefully that is the holdup.”

The 2024 ballot measure—sponsored by Smart & Safe Florida and financially backed by more than $40 million in contributions from Tallahassee-based multistate cannabis operator Trulieve, which has more than 130 medical dispensaries in Florida—comes after the court’s justices heard oral arguments on the proposal in November 2023.

State Attorney General Ashley Moody, who filed a four-part argument against allowing the measure to go before voters, is the leading opposition to the initiative.

Key provisions in the proposed 2024 constitutional amendment include allowing:

• existing medical operators to remain vertically integrated while expanding to a forthcoming adult-use market;
• the Florida Legislature to determine a process for licensing additional market entrants; and
• adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to 3 ounces of dried flower or 5 grams of concentrate for personal use.

In addition, the amendment states adults and licensed operators “shall not” be subject to criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida law for use, possession and commercial operations.

The effective date of the amendment would be six months after approval by voters, who need a 60% supermajority for passage, a threshold for all citizen-initiated constitutional amendments in Florida.