Will Florida legalize recreational marijuana in 2026? What's in the way – Tallahassee Democrat
So, will Florida see recreational marijuana in 2026?
There are a lot of obstacles in the way for adults in the Sunshine State trying to fire one up.
Smart & Safe Florida, the same political committee that sponsored the proposal in 2024 with heavy funding by the state’s largest marijuana purveyor, Trulieve, is trying again with the November 2026 election.
If the proposed amendment makes it on the ballot and is approved by at least 60% of voters, it would make it legal for people 21 years of age and older to possess and use recreational marijuana, with restrictions on where they could smoke and child-friendly advertising and an allowance for licensed marijuana entities besides the state’s Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers to grow, process and sell it.
Smart & Safe Florida has until Feb. 1 to present at least 880,062 valid petition signatures to the state. They’ve said they have more than a million so far, although the state elections office only shows 675,307 as of Friday, Jan. 9.
In December, the group filed a lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court alleging that state elections officials had improperly directed the invalidation of about 72,000 signatures of inactive (but still registered) voters and petitions collected by out-of-state petition gatherers.
But the proposal must also pass the Florida Supreme Court’s muster, and Attorney General James Uthmeier, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Associated Industries of Florida filed briefs Friday, Jan. 2, asking the Court to reject the proposal on the grounds that it is misleading and conflicts with federal law.
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.
The ballot summary, which is the part voters will see, is listed on the Florida Department of State website:, stating
“Allows adults 21 and older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana for non-medical consumption. Establishes possession limits. Prohibits marketing and packaging attractive to children. Prohibits smoking and vaping in public. Maintains prohibition on driving under influence. Applies to Florida law; does not change, or immunize violations of, federal law. Allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers to acquire, cultivate, process, transport, and sell marijuana to adults. Provides for creation of licenses for non-medical marijuana businesses.”
You can read the full text of the proposed amendment here.
The Supreme Court must look at whether the wording of proposed amendments is clear and whether proposals improperly deal with multiple subjects. The Court does not consider the merits of the proposal.
The brief filed by Uthmeier’s office called the pot proposal “fatally flawed.”
“It misleads voters in a way designed to garner greater approval, is flatly invalid under the federal Constitution and violates the single-subject requirement,” it said. “The (Supreme) Court should therefore strike the proposed amendment from the ballot.”
The briefs from Uthmeier and the two business groups challenge the proposed pot amendment for three reasons:
The Drug Free America Foundation also filed a brief on Friday challenging the proposal on federal illegality grounds.
Smart & Safe Florida requested a seven-day filing extension from Jan. 12 to Jan. 19 to address the lengthy filings. The court agreed to push the filing deadline to Jan. 16 instead.
In a statement on Monday, Smart & Safe Florida pointed out that the Florida Supreme Court already answered some of these questions the last time.
“In 2024, the Florida Supreme Court rejected nearly identical arguments, upheld a virtually identical amendment and again provided a clear roadmap for ballot approval,” the statement said, as reported by the News Service of Florida. “We followed the Court’s guidance, and we anticipate they will again follow Florida law and approve the current ballot language.
“5.9 million voters approved of the measure in 2024, and over a million Florida voters have signed petitions to put the current language on the ballot, we hope their voices won’t be ignored.”
Five justices approved allowing the 2024 amendment to go on the ballot, with four signing on to the main opinion. Two justices dissented.
It should also be noted that 24 U.S. states, two territories and the District of Columbia have already legalized adult recreational marijuana use despite it being illegal under federal law, according to the National Council of State Legislatures.
If the Supreme Court gives the OK and the proposal gets the required number of valid signatures, Smart & Safe Florida will still face a hard uphill battle against the state’s power.
During the 2024 General Election, the DeSantis administration spent more than $35 million of taxpayer money on political consultants, lawyers and thousands of TV, radio and social media ads to defeat the recreational pot amendment and another citizen amendment to change Florida’s six-week abortion ban back to what it was previously, according to a December report from the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times. Much of that, the report said, was diverted from state money intended to assist needy Floridians, including children.
DeSantis also spoke against the 2024 proposed amendment multiple times, saying it was too broad, didn’t allow for “time, place and manner restrictions,” and would leave the state stinky.
“I’ve gone to some of these cities that have had this everywhere, it smells, there’s all these things,” DeSantis said. “I don’t want to be able to go walk in front of shops and have this. I don’t want every hotel to really smell.”
Last spring, a Republican representative called for investigations into Hope Florida, a project spearheaded by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, over a $10 million “donation” from a Medicaid settlement that was then funneled through nonprofit organizations to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee fighting the amendments headed by Uthmeier, who was DeSantis’ chief of staff at the time.
It’s likely a similarly massive campaign will be engaged against a 2026 version.
DeSantis also signed a bill in 2025 to make citizen ballot initiatives, such as these and previous successful ones to legalize medical marijuana and raise the minimum wage in the state, much more difficult to pursue. The bill requires groups sponsoring ballot initiatives to post a $1 million bond, shortens the time to submit signatures, and dramatically increases financial penalties for violations.
And if the proposed recreational marijuana amendment makes it past all of that, it’s up to the voters in November.
In 2024, a majority of Florida voters, 55.88%, approved the recreational marijuana amendment, and 44.12% were opposed. But Florida requires a 60% threshold for constitutional amendments, so it failed.
Even if it passes, don’t light up just yet. It’s not immediate.
The amendment sets an effective date six months after voter approval, which would be June 1, 2027. But the Florida Legislature would still need to make and approve the change in the Florida Statutes, and that could take months.
Some of the things to hammer out include how to implement the law, specific regulations on how much marijuana can be purchased at a time, potency limits, rules on marketing, and anything else that comes up.
Then, after that, there may be legal challenges from proponents of recreational marijuana against those restrictions, and possibly challenges from opponents designed to tie things up in the courts. You won’t be able to duck down to the dispensary to get something for the weekend until all that is resolved.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this story.
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.