Florida voters to decide the fate of legalization in November

The voters of Florida will have the opportunity to legalize adult-use cannabis on November 5, 2024. Question 3 (as the legalization ballot initiative has been labeled) is being spearheaded by Smart and Safe Florida. The constitutional amendment will need 60% of the vote for passage and, if passed, will go into effect six months after passage. Due to Florida’s strict single issue rule, the initiative does not include expungement or home grow, but it is a critical starting point to ending the harms of cannabis prohibition in the Sunshine State. 

Question 3, if passed, will allow:

• Operating medical cannabis dispensaries to sell cannabis to adults over the age of 21;
• Adults 21+ to possess one ounce of cannabis flower and five grams of concentrate; and
• The legislature to issue more licenses if they so choose, and to enact laws to further regulate the adult-use market. 

The deadline to register to vote is October 7 and you can register here. The Florida Legislature has not been favorable to cannabis policy reform and the governor is actively opposed. This initiative is the only realistic means of ending cannabis prohibition in Florida in the near future. With 60% of votes needed for passage, every vote will be crucial in this election.

Current cannabis laws in Florida

Florida is one of only 19 states that continues to impose jail time for simple possession of cannabis. The Miami New Times reported that 42,153 people were arrested for misdemeanor cannabis possession in Florida in 2017. If the legalization measure is approved by voters, tens of thousands of Florida residents would be spared the trauma, disruption, and life-altering criminal records of a cannabis arrest.

Possession of small amounts is illegal: Possession of 20 grams or less of cannabis is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1,000. Possession of more than 20 grams of cannabis is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $5,000.

Sale or delivery qualifies as a felony: Sale or delivery within 1,000 feet of a school, college, park, or other specified area is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $10,000. The sale of 25 pounds or less of cannabis is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $5,000. However, the delivery of 20 grams or less is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1,000.

Medical marijuana is permitted: An individual may register as a medical marijuana patient if his or her doctor certifies that the individual suffers from one or more of the following conditions:

• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Crohn’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those above
• Post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• A terminal condition diagnosed by a physician other than the qualified physician issuing the physician certification
• Chronic nonmalignant pain caused by a qualifying medical condition or that originates from a qualifying medical condition and persists beyond the usual course of that qualifying medical condition

To qualify, a patient must be a permanent or seasonal resident of Florida, be entered into the medical marijuana use registry, and obtain a medical marijuana ID card. You can learn more about the requirements to become a patient here. Patients can purchase marijuana from registered marijuana dispensaries, called Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTCs). Click here to search for an MMTC near you.

Decriminalization policies adopted across Florida, but arrests continue 

Since June 2015, several cities and counties have passed similar ordinances that give officers the discretion to replace arrests for possession of under 20 grams of cannabis with citations. These jurisdictions include Miami-Dade County, Tampa, Key West, Orlando, and Sarasota.

For example, Orlando decriminalized small amounts of cannabis by allowing police officers to give out citations instead of making arrests. If you possess 20 grams of cannabis or less or have cannabis paraphernalia, an officer can choose to give you a citation with a $100 fine if you're a first-time offender, or a $200 fine for a second offense. Repeat offenders can get a fine of up to $500 and a court appearance.

While this is a positive sign, in some jurisdictions, payment of the citation could still result in a criminal record, and some police departments have said that they will continue to arrest everyone in possession of cannabis. The Miami New Times reported that between July 2015 and July 2018, police departments in Miami-Dade County sent more than 5,255 individuals to jail for simple possession of cannabis — an offense for which they could have been issued a citation. They reported that individuals who were jailed for cannabis missed a day or more of work, faced hundreds or thousands of dollars in bonds and expenses, and many had their cars towed. Although most of the charges were dropped, the arrestees still carry the arrest record and the life-altering collateral consequences, along with the trauma caused by the arrest and the effects of disrupted work and family lives.

For more information, please see our summary of the measures. While these measures show a local will to stop cannabis arrests, it’s clear statewide change is needed to stop ruining lives over cannabis.

Timeline of cannabis policy reform in Florida

1978: The Florida Legislature enacted the Therapeutic Research Program, which was never operational. The program would have required federal permission and would have involved pharmacies dispensing marijuana to cancer and glaucoma patients. It was repealed in 1984.

1991: In Jenks v. State, the First District Court of Appeals allowed two seriously ill HIV/AIDS patients to raise a medical necessity defense to marijuana cultivation and drug paraphernalia charges. The court found that the defendants had met the burden of establishing the defense at trial and reversed the trial court’s judgment and acquitted the defendants.

1998: The same First District Court of Appeals upheld the medical necessity defense again in Sowell v. State, even after the legislature made a slight change to its Schedule I statutory language that was unfriendly to the use of medical marijuana.

2012: Simultaneous bills HJR 353 and SJR 1028, a constitutional amendment to allow medical marijuana in Florida, were introduced by Rep. Jeff Clemens (D – Lake Worth) and Sen. Larcenia J. Bullard (D – Miami) but never voted on. This marked the first time that medical marijuana bills were filed in both the House and the Senate.

2014: The “Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014” allows specified physicians to issue orders for certain patients, allowing them to use low-THC cannabis, which is defined as having no more than 0.8% THC and more than 10% CBD. It requires the Department of Health to create a registry of patients and to authorize five organizations to grow and dispense the cannabis. Requiring doctors to issue “written orders” rather than recommendations or certifications puts them at risk under federal law.

Advocates were able to get a medical marijuana constitutional amendment on the November 2014 ballot. Since it was a constitutional amendment, it needed 60% or more of the vote to pass. Unfortunately, it only got 57.6%.

2015: Local governments began opting to allow officers to cite, rather than arrest, adults found in possession of cannabis.

2016: Amendment 2 – which established a medical marijuana program – passed with a popular vote of 71%.

2017: In special session, the legislature passed SB8A to regulate Amendment 2, and implementation is underway by the Office of Medical Marijuana Use within Florida’s Department of Health.

2019: The legislature enacted SB 182, repealing a ban it had previously instituted on smoking medical cannabis.

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