Legal battles continue for a proposed recreational marijuana constitutional amendment as the sponsor, Smart & Safe Florida, works to get Florida Supreme Court approval despite state pushback and enough valid signatures before the deadlines.
In the meantime, a state senator just filed a bill to go ahead and make it legal anyway.
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, on Thursday, Jan. 8, filed SB 1398, which would allow adults 21 years of age and older to legally possess up to four ounces of smokable marijuana, or cannabis products containing up to 2,000 milligrams of THC.
Floridians would be restricted from buying more than 2½ ounces of smokable marijuana at a time and could only buy it from a licensed and registered medical marijuana treatment center, although the bill also would break Florida’s silo-format licensing and allow small businesses to apply for licenses to cultivate, manufacture, transport and sell cannabis products.
Under the bill, consumers (but not medical marijuana patients or caregivers) would be taxed, and medical marijuana patients would be permitted to grow up to six flowering plants at home for personal consumption.
“We can’t call ourselves the ‘Free State of Florida’ while continuing to criminalize cannabis use by grown adults,” Smith told the Marijuana Moment website Thursday. “The message from voters was unmistakable: they want change.
“Senate Bill 1398 answers that call by legalizing cannabis for adults 21 and over in a safe, responsible, and tightly regulated way,” he said. Smith previously filed a more specific bill, SB 776, allowing qualified patients to grow their own weed.
It’s a long shot under a governor who fought tooth and nail to prevent the last recreational marijuana amendment from passing. It’s also not the only weed-based bill in this year’s legislative session, which starts Tuesday, Jan. 13.
There are nearly 30 bills mentioning marijuana in one way or another this year, some seeking to expand permissions and some hoping to tighten them. Several of them are repeats from last year. Here’s what to watch.
Other bills include SB 1242, which addresses medical marijuana dispensary licensing,
Medical marijuana is legal for Florida residents with specific medical conditions who apply for and receive a Medical Marijuana Card. It must be purchased at licensed medical marijuana dispensaries, and amounts and THC levels are restricted by state law.
Recreational marijuana remains illegal in the Sunshine State.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.