Recreational pot petition for 2026 ballot passes 600K signatures

Supporters of legalizing recreational cannabis in Florida have taken a major step toward placing the issue back on the ballot, submitting more than 600,000 verified petition signatures for a proposed 2026 constitutional amendment.

State records show that as of this week, the political committee Smart & Safe Florida has submitted 613,206 valid petition signatures.

While the committee still needs to reach the 880,062-signature threshold to make the statewide ballot, it has already surpassed the minimum needed to trigger mandatory review by the Florida Supreme Court and the Financial Impact Estimating Conference.

The initiative, titled “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana,” would allow adults 21 and over to possess, purchase and use pot for non-medical purposes. It includes added safeguards not present in the 2024 version, such as prohibitions on marketing to children and bans on public smoking and vaping — two key issues Gov. Ron DeSantis and other opponents previously seized upon.

The previous ballot measure, known as Amendment 3, drew 56% support in the 2024 election, falling short of Florida’s 60% threshold for constitutional amendments.

That effort saw a record-setting $150 million spent in support of the effort, much of it from Trulieve, the state’s largest medical marijuana operator. But it faced fierce opposition from DeSantis, First Lady Casey DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, then the Governor’s Chief of Staff, who chaired a political committee focused on fighting the measure.

That political committee’s funding, specifically $10 million in allegedly misappropriated Medicaid settlement funds rerouted from the state’s general revenue fund, became the subject of a Republican-led House probe. In late May, Democratic U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor and Darren Soto confirmed they were seeking a federal probe.

Smart & Safe Florida is facing even more obstacles this time around. In federal court, the group is challenging a newly enacted state law that restricts ballot initiatives by capping volunteer petition circulators to 25 forms each and barring out-of-state participants.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker held a hearing last week on the matter, but hasn’t yet issued a ruling.

Under the proposed amendment’s language, licensed medical marijuana treatment centers would be allowed to sell to adults for recreational purposes, and a new licensing framework for non-medical sellers would be created. However, the measure states that it does not alter federal law, where marijuana remains classified as a controlled substance.

Floridians without a medical card remain subject to strict state penalties for possession, ranging from misdemeanor fines to felony charges, though several Florida counties — including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach — have decriminalized small amounts.

Petition signatures for constitutional amendments intended to appear on the 2026 General Election ballot must be submitted and verified by Feb. 1, 2026.