The Florida Supreme Court Won't Let Voters Legalize Recreational Marijuana

[Nevilledog]

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John FitzGerald
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The Florida Supreme Court ruled that voters could not be trusted with a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana for adults. By a 5–2 vote, the court tossed out the initiative, denying Florida residents the opportunity to vote on it.

The Florida Supreme Court Won’t Let Voters Legalize Recreational Marijuana
A dubious decision by the ultra-conservative court denies Floridians the opportunity to reform their state’s drug laws.
slate.com
3:10 PM · Apr 22, 2021

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/florida-supreme-court-ballot-initiative-recreational-marijuana.html


On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court—probably the most conservative state high court in the country–concluded that the state’s voters could not be trusted with a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana for adults. By a 5–2 vote, the court tossed out the initiative, denying Florida residents the opportunity to vote on it. To justify its action, the majority seized upon a dubious rationale: It asserted that the ballot summary implies that the initiative will somehow legalize marijuana under federal law, rendering it “affirmatively misleading.” Because of this putative defect, the court denied Floridians an opportunity to repeal state laws banning recreational weed. And because the court

The campaign to liberalize Florida’s marijuana laws has long pitted the people against state officials. For years, the Republicans in the state legislature and governor’s mansion refused to expand access to cannabis. In 2016, Floridians took the matter into their own hands, legalizing medical marijuana through a ballot initiative amending the state constitution that passed with more than 71 percent of the vote. Former Republican Gov. Rick Scott, abetted by GOP state legislators, attempted to gut this new law by strictly limiting qualifying conditions for the drug and banning smokable marijuana. A court blocked that ban, and the legislature eventually repealed it.

Seizing this momentum, cannabis reform advocates launched a new ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana for all adults over the age of 21. As of Thursday, the initiative’s sponsor had raised $8.2 million and collected more than 556,000 signatures out of the 891,589 needed to get on the ballot in 2022. Its strong support at this early date indicated a real possibility that the initiative would cross the 60 percent threshold necessary to amend the state constitution. But as its proponents were collecting signatures, Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, asked the Florida Supreme Court to weigh in on the measure’s legality. Specifically, Moody urged the justices to rule that the summary intended to appear on ballots in 2022 was “misleading” and toss out the initiative.

After hearing oral arguments, the Florida Supreme Court sat on this case for a year—an unprecedented amount of time for a challenge to a ballot initiative. Then, on Thursday, in an unsigned opinion, a majority of the court held that the language was unlawfully “misleading.” This ruling kills the entire initiative; because the court waited so long to issue its decision, the measure’s proponents do not have enough time to formally correct the summary before 2022. The majority took issue with a single word: “permits.” It noted that the ballot summary says the measure “permits” adults over 21 to buy, use, and possess marijuana for recreational purposes. But, the court pointed out, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. “The summary’s unqualified use of the word “permits” strongly suggests that the conduct to be authorized by the amendment will be free of any criminal or civil penalty in Florida,” the majority held. Yet “a constitutional amendment cannot unequivocally ‘permit’ or authorize conduct that is criminalized under federal law. And a ballot summary suggesting otherwise is affirmatively misleading.”

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[questionseverything]

1. Another example of why pot needs to be legalized at the national level

Trusting the states is foolish

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Republican social engineering at cross-purposes with reality.

Good luck with that.

[cutroot]

3. Here Sir, the people govern. Alexander Hamilton

Apparently, just the people on the Supreme Court

[bluestarone]

4. Local elections matter

Time to drill this in. Get rid of all these assholes

[edhopper]

5. Florida deserves

whatever these asshats they vote for do. Keep voting for Repukes and let them fuck up your lives.
Maybe you'll learn. Maybe not.

[Progressive Jones]

9. Is the Florida SC elected, or appointed? nt

[edhopper]

10. Both

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Florida

If you elected a Republicans who put fascists on the Court, you suffer the consequences.

[Progressive Jones]

13. Thanks. nt

[rickyhall]

6. Not democracy.

[MagickMuffin]

7. I guess this court doesn't know about States Rights

It seems they are always picking and choosing whatever it is to benefit them.

[Earth-shine]

8. On the issue of MJ, if you can't get it, just think outside the box.

It's very easy to obtain a Florida medical MJ card. The MMJ doctors want your business and will work with you.

It's about $350/yr for the requisite visits to the MMJ doctor and another $75/yr for the card.

In the dispensaries, prices for various items seem to be cheaper than in California, but perhaps not as inexpensive as Colorado.

As best he can be, Gov. DeSantis is a fascist, and in many ways, the state is heading in the wrong direction.

My wife and I moved from Asheville, NC, to Delray Beach, FL about 2.5 years ago. The politics suck, but on balance, the weather and lifestyle are amazingly good. We've made some friends and live here fairly happily.

[spanone]

11. In my sad state of Tennessee you can't even get marijuana for medical purposes.

[Carlitos Brigante]

12. Keep voting for 'Pukes assholes! How's that "freedom" working out

for ya'? My condolences to the 40-something% of normal people down there.

[BannonsLiver]

14. Yet another way Florida sucks.

The list is as long as those old rebate receipts you’d get at circuit city.