How Florida's 2020 Recreational Marijuana Ballot Drives Failed

By the winter of 2019, Florida's burgeoning medical cannabis industry was split on the prospects of adult use legalization.

It wasn't a question of if, but when.   

Some expect to see the question reach the ballot in 2020. Yet despite being backed by surging medical flower sales and sizable public support, no legalization question qualified for the ballot. 

Instead, limited time and conflicting proposals helped sink any hopes of adult use coming to the Sunshine State in the next year.

Now, like other states that had gotten their hopes up for recreational legalization, Florida is left to analyze and regroup for the steps ahead.

Dual Proposals, Lack Of Signatures Doom Florida's 2020 Hopes

It appears that Florida faced a one-two punch that cannabis reform couldn't recover from in 2019 and 2020.

Observers blame the downfall of the efforts on conflicting ballot efforts from two groups, Regulate Florida and Make It Legal Florida. 

Brady Cobb, attorney and CEO of SOL Global Investments Corp SOLCF, said there was one notable difference 

"The only principal difference between the two was that Regulate Florida's ballot language included Florida patients having the right to home grow, and Make it Legal Florida did not," he said. 

Both bills failed to reach the needed 776,200 signatures.

In December 2019, Regulate Florida became the first to suspend its efforts. At the time of the announcement, the group reported having 92,540 signatures, according to the state Division of Elections.

Despite a multimillion-dollar funding effort, which included significant support from industry players like Medmen Enterprises Inc MMEN MMNFF and Parallel, Make It Legal Florida could not gather enough signatures either. 

Needing 766,200 signatures by Feb. 1, the group behind the initiative, Make It Legal Florida, filed a lawsuit in mid-January for an extension. At the time of the filing, the state Division of Elections counted just over 294,400 signatures.

The motion would be dismissed soon after, and the initiative would stop in short order. When announcing the suspension of the efforts, group Chairman Nick Hansen said over 700,000 signatures had been gathered.

The reasons for the failed 2020 bid include a late campaign start in the summer of 2019 and new election laws. 

Cobb, who supports Regulate Florida's home grow-based proposal, said the two efforts didn't do any favors for one another.

"The constitutional amendment process is hard enough from gathering signatures and getting them certified to the Supreme Court review process," Cobb said.

"Having resources split between two competing amendments did not set us up for success."

David Hasenauer, co-founder and CEO of Green Point Research, echoed similar sentiments.

"The best way forward for adult use is to work between interest groups and the legislature to see if there is a statutory path to be explored," Hasenauer said.

What's Next For Pot In Florida 

The signed petitions won't be wasted, as signatures are valid for two years and can be used for efforts in 2022.

In the wake of the ballot drives failing to reach their goal, new legislation has been introduced. In January, Sen. Jeff Brandes filed an adult use bill that seeks to also end to the state's vertical integration rules.

If passed, the bill would expunge low-level criminal offenses. A study on the impact of home cultivation would also be included.

Related Links:

Report: Florida Cannabis Legalization Could Create 100K-Plus Jobs

A Snapshot Of America's Medical Marijuana Markets: Florida