Florida officials face a lawsuit over claims of blocking efforts to legalize marijuana.
A legal battle has erupted in Florida over efforts to bring recreational marijuana to voters in 2026. Smart & Safe Florida, the organization behind the legalization push, has accused state officials of trying to sabotage the campaign by invalidating a large portion of its signed petitions. The group filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Cord Byrd, claiming that the Department of State is attempting to throw out nearly 200,000 petitions without legal grounds.
These petitions represent about one-third of the signatures Smart & Safe Florida has collected so far. To qualify its proposal for the ballot, the group needs approximately 880,000 verified signatures by February 1. Losing that many petitions could deal a serious blow to the campaign’s progress.
The dispute centers on a set of petitions mailed directly to voters earlier in the year. Each envelope included two petition forms, a prepaid return envelope, and a campaign information card. On the back of the petition was a link that led to the full text of the proposed constitutional amendment. However, the mailing itself only contained a summary of the amendment, not the complete language.
Maria Matthews, who heads the state’s Division of Elections, sent an email to all county election supervisors advising them to reject these petitions. According to her, the campaign violated state rules requiring approval of a petition’s layout before circulation, as well as a rule that the full text of a proposed amendment must be “provided or displayed” to the voter before signing. Matthews concluded that because of these alleged violations, none of the mailed petitions should be counted as valid.
Smart & Safe Florida responded by arguing that Matthews’ interpretation goes beyond what the law allows. The group maintains that no Florida statute defines what it means for the amendment text to be “provided or displayed.” By including a web link to the full text, the campaign believes it met the spirit of the rule. The organization contends that the state is overstepping by creating new, unauthorized requirements for ballot petition verification.
This is not the first time the group has faced state resistance. In 2022, an earlier version of its amendment was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court, which said the summary wording was misleading. After revising the language, Smart & Safe Florida relaunched its campaign and began collecting signatures again. The group’s latest proposal seeks to legalize the purchase, possession, and use of marijuana by adults aged 21 and older, while allowing licensed dispensaries to sell cannabis products for recreational use.
The campaign has received substantial backing, including millions of dollars in donations from the medical marijuana industry. Supporters argue that legalizing adult use would reduce arrests, generate tax revenue, and reflect changing public opinion in the state. Polls in recent years have shown majority support for recreational legalization among Florida voters.
The state’s move to invalidate such a large number of petitions has raised questions about fairness in the ballot process. Legal experts say the courts will need to decide whether the Division of Elections acted within its authority or went too far in interpreting the rules. If Smart & Safe Florida loses the case, the group would have to scramble to replace the rejected signatures before the deadline — a major challenge in both time and cost.
For now, the lawsuit adds another layer of uncertainty to the state’s long-running debate over marijuana policy. With growing public support and a history of legal setbacks, the campaign’s outcome could determine whether Florida joins the majority of states that have already legalized recreational marijuana — or remains one of the holdouts where the fight continues in court rather than at the ballot box.
Sources:
Legal marijuana campaign sues Florida for trying to invalidate 200k petitions
Join the conversation!