Political committee spends $1.5 million to get recreational pot on Florida’s 2024 ballot

Gearing up to try to get on the 2024 ballot, a political committee proposing a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Florida paid $1.5 million last week to a signature-gathering firm, according to a newly filed finance report.

The Smart & Safe Florida committee paid the money to Vanguard Field Strategies, with the report saying the payment was for “signatures/petitions.”

The committee will have to submit 891,589 valid petition signatures to put the measure on the 2024 ballot.

The medical-marijuana company Trulieve contributed $5 million last month to help launch the initiative.

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.”

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This article appears in Sep 1-7, 2022.