Campaign to legalize recreational marijuana takes DeSantis administration to state Supreme Court

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida is suing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration in the state's Supreme Court, alleging state elections officials are trying to improperly block the measure from getting on the ballot in 2026.

It's the latest escalation in a yearslong clash between progressive organizers seeking to amend the state's constitution, and the conservative governor, who in 2024 used state money and his political influence to successfully campaign against efforts to legalize adult personal use of marijuana and expand abortion rights.

In a petition filed Thursday, the group Smart & Safe Florida alleged state officials have “failed to perform an indisputable legal duty” and urged the Florida Supreme Court to order state election officials to confirm the campaign has gathered the hundreds of thousands of voter petitions needed to qualify for the ballot.

Smart & Safe argues it has collected more than three times as many petitions as the law requires, but that for months, state elections officials have failed to formally confirm that milestone. That official confirmation, while procedural, is legally required to put the proposed amendment before the state attorney general, who then must request the state Supreme Court to review the ballot language.

“As reflected by Respondents’ own publicly reported data, the initiative petition at issue here has secured three times the number of verified valid petitions required statewide,” the campaign's filing reads.

“Ignoring the indisputable facts and their clear legal obligation, Respondents refuse to exercise their mandatory ministerial duty,” the filing continues.

With the 2026 election season fast approaching, the campaign is racing against the state's April 1, 2026, deadline for the state Supreme Court to sign off on the proposed amendment, a key step to getting the issue before voters.

A spokesperson for Secretary of State Cord Byrd, who is named in the suit, said the Florida Department of State does not comment on pending litigation. Representatives for DeSantis referred questions to the department.

Medical marijuana is already legal in the state for qualifying patients, after Florida voters approved a 2016 constitutional amendment, broadening access to pot beyond the limited therapeutic uses previously approved by the Legislature.

For years, Florida voters have turned to the citizens’ ballot initiative process to bypass the Republican-dominated Legislature and advance progressive policies such as raising the minimum wage and restoring the voting rights of people with felony convictions.

In May, DeSantis signed a law creating new hurdles for citizen-driven ballot initiatives, changes critics say would make it prohibitively expensive and effectively impossible for grassroots campaigners to get them onto the ballot. Since the passage of the law, a campaign to expand Medicaid in the state announced it's delaying its push to get the issue on the ballot until 2028.

Members of DeSantis' administration are also under fire after the foundation for the state welfare initiative, spearheaded by Florida's first lady Casey DeSantis, gave $10 million from a state settlement to two nonprofits, which in turn gave millions to a political committee that campaigned against the failed 2024 ballot measure on recreational marijuana. That political committee was chaired by the governor's then-chief of staff, James Uthmeier, who is now Florida's attorney general.

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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.