Darka Kam, News Services of Florida
TALLAHASSEE – Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, and country-music legends The Bellamy Brothers are backing a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana by people 21 or older.
The proposed amendment was filed Monday at the state Division of Elections, with Tallahassee-based Trulieve contributing $5 million to the effort to get the measure on the 2024 ballot. Other multi-state medical marijuana operators also are expected to support the campaign.
Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2016 to broadly legalize medical marijuana, and nearly 800,000 patients have been authorized for the treatment.
While past recreational-marijuana initiatives in the state have failed, supporters of the new proposal say they’re confident it will satisfy Florida Supreme Court requirements to make it onto the ballot and will gain support from voters.
“It’s all about improving access,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers told The News Service of Florida in an interview. “We came into this with a mission to provide access to high-quality products that are safe and have an appropriate value proposition to give folks control over their — in the original days — medical journey. I don’t think that changes here. I mean, in effect we are at our core about expanding the opportunity for access to safe legal product, which is what this would allow us to continue to do.”
The “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” proposal would allow people 21 or older “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.”
The proposed amendment, which was provided to the News Service, also would allow “medical marijuana treatment centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories.” The initiative would not authorize people to grow marijuana plants for personal use.
Expensive small business
The proposal could bust up the state’s current requirement that medical marijuana businesses — called “medical marijuana treatment centers” — conduct all aspects of operations, from cultivation to retailing. Lawmakers established the industry’s “vertical integration” system after the 2016 amendment passed, but critics maintain it makes operations prohibitively expensive for smaller entrepreneurs.
If voters sign off on the new proposal, lawmakers still would have final say on how the industry is structured.
“Nothing in this amendment prohibits the Legislature from enacting laws that are consistent with this amendment,” the proposal says.
Rivers said the nod to the Legislature was intentional and pointed to a requirement that proposed constitutional amendments be limited to single subjects. The Florida Supreme Court reviews proposals to make sure they comply with the requirement.
“Any amendment in the state of Florida has to be very careful in terms of single subjects with this court and so I do know, speaking with the lawyers, that there was a very high focus on keeping this really focused around authorizing adult use and then allowing the Legislature to develop policy,” she said.
The Smart & Safe Florida political committee, headed by musician David Bellamy, is supporting the proposal, which would need nearly 900,000 petition signatures to make it onto the 2024 ballot. Paperwork for the committee was filed Monday at the Division of Elections.
The Bellamy brothers, Florida natives who own a ranch in Pasco County, already joined forces with Trulieve for a line of cannabis products.
The musical duo, who are in their 70s, told the News Service that “Florida is ready” for recreational marijuana.
