Florida Election Officials Advance Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Ballot Proposal

Florida officials announced this week they have taken the next step in approving a petition submitted by the Smart & Safe Florida campaign to put an adult-use cannabis legalization amendment on the 2026 ballot, the Florida Phoenix reports.

The announcement came weeks after the campaign sued Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) administration in the state’s Supreme Court, claiming that election officials were trying to block the proposal from reaching the ballot by delaying the process.

Attorney General James Uthmeier, in a state Supreme Court brief filed Tuesday, asked the justices to dismiss the lawsuit after officials “sent the demanded … letter to Smart & Safe and submitted the initiative petition to the Attorney General” on Monday.

In its lawsuit, Smart & Safe Florida claims it collected three times the number of petition signatures required, but that election officials purposely delayed recognition of the signatures.

Now that the proposal has been approved by state officials and delivered to the attorney general, Uthmeier can submit the proposal to the Supreme Court for a final review. The court has until April 1, 2026, to sign off on the proposed amendment.

Florida constitutional ballot amendments require at least 60% of the popular vote to pass. In 2024, an adult-use legalization amendment supported by Smart & Safe Florida received just 56% of voter support, capturing the popular vote but falling short of the threshold.