Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Reaches Signature Goal, Says Major Funder Trulieve

Florida's cannabis industry-backed campaign to legalize marijuana has garnered enough raw signatures to qualify the initiative for the state's 2024 ballot, reported Marijuana Moment.

According to one of the campaign's financiers, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TRUL TCNNF, the Smart & Safe Florida campaign fulfilled its goal as of early May.

Tallahassee-based Trulieve, which has contributed at least $30 million to the Smart & Safe Florida campaign, of which more than $19 million was spent on petition collection and verification expenses, revealed the news in a Wednesday tweet.

$TRUL $TCNNF @SmartandSafeFl pic.twitter.com/OFwfyiXZpT

— Trulieve_IR (@Trulieve_IR) May 10, 2023

The official confirmation from the Florida Division of Elections is still pending. The proposal has to gather 891,523 valid signatures to be introduced on the 2024 ballot.

The measure - "Adult Personal Use of Marijuana" - proposing a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana would allow already-existing medical marijuana (MMJ) companies to begin selling recreational cannabis. This move could significantly boost Trulieve's market position.

Trulieve currently operates over 180 dispensaries, with plans to open 15 to 20 by the year-end. It also intends to reposition up to six dispensaries to better align with customer demand profiles.

Meanwhile, Smart & Safe Florida's measure was filed past summer. By March, it has collected over 420,000 valid signatures, according to data from the state Division of Elections website.

If approved, the proposition would allow adults over 21 "to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise." However, the initiative would not allow home cultivation for personal use.

Photo: Courtesy of 2H Media on Unsplash