Group seeks to legalize marijuana in Florida

Tudo · Sep 1, 2015

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Marijuana
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New Constitution proposal seeks to fully legalize marijuana use by adults in Florida.

</HEADER><SECTION class=trb_mainContent data-role="panelmod_articleBody"> Petitions are hitting the streets soon for a new proposed constitutional amendment that would fully legalize marijuana use, possession and cultivation by adults in Florida.
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A political action committee called Floridians For Freedom, associated with a longtime marijuana advocacy group called the Florida Cannabis Action Network, announced Tuesday it has gotten state approval to begin seeking signatures to get their measure on the November, 2016, ballot.
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Florida Cannabis Action Network is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 and based in Melbourne. Floridians For Freedom also is based in Melbourne.
The language of Floridians For Freedom's proposed amendment is short:

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"All people in the State of Florida twenty-one years of age and older shall have the right under state laws to possession, use, and cultivation of cannabis. The right shall not be infringed except that the transfer of cannabis by purchase or sale may be regulated as necessary to insure health and safety."
Jodi James, chair of Floridians For Freedom and executive director of the Florida Cannabis Action Network, described the proposal as an effort for "ending prohibition" of marijuana under state law.
All the commercial aspects of marijuana would be controlled by rules and regulations set by the Florida Legislature and Department of Commerce, she said. She called that the group's "end goal."
"We want it to be legal. We want it to be regulated. We want it controlled. We want people to have safe access," James said.
Floridians For Freedom will have to gather about 67,000 valid signatures to get the effort to the next phase, Florida Supreme Court review, to make sure the proposed amendment and ballot language meet all state requirements.
She cited the simplicity of the amendment as a strength that could help it gain Supreme Court approval.
"This is truly about the sovereignty of the individual," she said. "Where (proposed) amendments get in trouble is when they try to legislate from the constitution. We're not legislating from the constitution."
That draws some distinction from Morgan's proposal, which goes into some detail about regulation of medical marijuana.
Then the group will have to gather another 600,000 to get it qualified for the November, 2016 ballot. James noted the Florida Cannabis Action Network has 20,000 members ready to volunteer to collect signatures.
This is not the only marijuana legalization proposal in the works. A Miami man filed a proposal in May, with intentions of seeking signatures.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...t-would-legalize-marijuana-20150901-post.html

MartianMarvin · Sep 1, 2015

didnt they recently decriminalize marijuana in miami beach area??? FL here i come! Hope it works out for the prople able to grow some plants at home without having the gestapo at your house arresting you. fl is fishermans paradise would be much cooler if they did this

dddaver · Sep 2, 2015

Not to be a grammar police or stickler for absolute accuracy in everything, but first the article said 67,000 signatures are needed for the first step, but toward the end of the article they said 600,000 more were needed. What? Which? Small difference. But I'm a little unclear about it. Was that 67,000 needed for just the first phase, but then 600,000 needed later?

And, although I would be among the first to sign a legalization petition, I do have my doubts about getting that passed here in conservative FL. And a legalization push actually might even lessen the impact, and lower the chances of even the medical bill being passed here. And the constitution still would still need to being changed, even with just medical. It's tantamount to almost the same thing. But once changed, wouldn't it be easier to then get that amended later? And everything but passing the damn thing has already been done with medical kin writing the legislation. Not so with legalization.

There is a very good chance of getting a very liberal medical bill passed here in 2016, but that is also relying on getting a lot of these old conservative sick people to be behind it. And for medical alone I think there is a better chance of getting that support. I personally think baby steps and kid gloves are needed here. Most especially we have to remember we are still deep in the heart of the dirty, dirty. Let's not overstep the reach here and throw the baby out with the bathwater. My 2c anyway, FWIW.

biologic · Sep 2, 2015

I totally agree.

iBogart · Sep 2, 2015

biologic said:
I totally agree with dddaver on this one.
We should focus on the medical aspects of marijuana to convince the conservative folks.

That logic is sooo 1996.

You would be surprised how many Republicans would like the right to decide to smoke legally here in Florida. 58% voted for medical last year which consisted mostly of the 50 and over crowd. Young people never really showed up last election in Florida. I think we're polling over 60% in favor of recreational in Florida as well.

I say sign both petitions for medical and recreational. You'll be able to vote yes on both come election day.

SaltyWarDog · Sep 2, 2015

dddaver said:
Not to be a grammar police or stickler for absolute accuracy in everything, but first the article said 67,000 signatures are needed for the first step, but toward the end of the article they said 600,000 more were needed. What? Which? Small difference. But I'm a little unclear about it. Was that 67,000 needed for just the first phase, but then 600,000 needed later?

There is a very good chance of getting a very liberal medical bill passed here in 2016, quote]

It 68,000 for FL supreme court ballot language review, Amendment two has 73,000 and is in review, the next part is the 600000 needed to make the ballot so 668000 are needed in total. It doesn't have money do distribute petitions and Amendment 2 is paying people to collect petitions. It would be great but I live in reality like you

MrBelvedere · Sep 2, 2015

We are collecting signatures for two separate measures

Legal: http://www.regulateflorida.com (this is the brand new one that kicked off this past weekend)

Medical: http://www.communitypac.us/

If you care, visit the websites and you can very easily just mail your signature in, or better yet actually volunteer your time to gather signatures.friends, family, coffee shops, etc. Once donations and volunteers start rolling in hopefully one or both will pass.

TerpeneDream · Sep 2, 2015

Nice! Love seeing this legal news pop up everywhere. Full legal and hop monopolies?! Amazing.

Florida will be home to the US's best Sativas

m314 · Sep 2, 2015

Doesn't this need 60% of the popular vote to pass? I'm all for this, but I'm not optimistic about its chances next year if it needs 60% to pass. None of the states who've legalized it got 60% of the popular vote. Florida is more conservative than states like Colorado and Oregon.

Florida is my home state, where I lived for most of my life. I'd actually consider moving back when it's legal there. It will be legal there someday. Hopefully in my lifetime.

SaltyWarDog · Sep 2, 2015

m314 said:
Doesn't this need 60% of the popular vote to pass? I'm all for this, but I'm not optimistic about its chances next year if it needs 60% to pass. None of the states who've legalized it got 60% of the popular vote. Florida is more conservative than states like Colorado and Oregon.

Florida is my home state, where I lived for most of my life. I'd actually consider moving back when it's legal there. It will be legal there someday. Hopefully in my lifetime.

We got 58% last time. This vote will be presidential. If the legal can get the signatures it can go legal and we can stick to Rick Scott and Pam bondi

m314 · Sep 2, 2015

SaltyWarDog said:
We got 58% last time. This vote will be presidential. If the legal can get the signatures it can go legal and we can stick to Rick Scott and Pam bondi

I hope it happens. I managed to talk my whole family into voting for medical legalization last year. It almost passed.

Martha Focker · Sep 2, 2015

you guys need to stop being such debbie downers. the last vote got 58% and a lot of people didn't even show up for the vote. 2 years of BS'ing from the government (remember they still haven't gotten a single dispensary or grown a single weed since charlottes web passed) and now we have like 3-4 bills up trying to get on the ballot. they can all be on the ballot and you will be able to vote yes on every single one. so even if you need 60% to pass. one of those is going to go through.

so please stop being so negative and see this for what it is. IT'S GOING TO PASS. ONE OF THOSE WILL WIN!

4 chances at legal/medical is better than NONE. and that's exactly what you'll have if you keep sitting on hands and whining about how it's not going to pass because you're projecting your feelings. only thing i don't care for is this 6 plants 3 mature shit i heard. dunno which one of these legalization bills it's in. i have like 50 plants now that it's illegal, i'm not gonna cut back to 6 just because of laws.

MJPassion · Sep 2, 2015

If the Full legal bill passes and its worded as above and there are no other provisions within the text, beyond what is worded above, then plant counts cannot be regulated.

I haven't read the bill since I don't live in FL.

Itsmychoice · Sep 3, 2015

It just takes money.

It just takes money.

With the right marketing it will pass. It's about freedom and focusing on real problems. I like the simple definition approach. If anyone finds a legitimate way to donate to the cause online please post up, for Florida or any other state with a shot at passing a marijuana law. I am in on getting a southern state legal.

Martha Focker · Sep 4, 2015

FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT:
All people in the State of Florida twenty-one years of age and older shall have the right under state laws to
possession, use, and cultivation of cannabis. This right shall not be infringed except that the transfer of
cannabis by purchase or sale may be regulated as necessary to ensure health and safety.
"Cannabis" in this section is defined as all parts of any plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not,
and the seeds thereof.
The provisions of this section are severable and if any clause or sentence of this measure, or an application
thereof, is adjudged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, other provisions shall continue to be in
effect to the fullest extent possible.

this one is the best bill.
http://floridafreedomgroup.com/index.php

MJPassion · Sep 4, 2015

That looks perfect, to me.

It's very simply worded & easily understood.

There is no reason for that to fail.

iBogart · Sep 4, 2015

Martha Focker said:
this one is the best bill.
http://floridafreedomgroup.com/index.php

Yep. Divide and conquer.

Three legalization initiatives in Florida. One run by one guy whose accepting no donations. Another run by Bill Wohlsifer, that libertarian attorney who ran for attorney general last year. And now this one. First I heard of it. Know nothing about whose running it.

I think we have until November 1 of this year to have a supreme court review of all initiatives to make the ballot for 2016. That means a campaign needs to gather some 70k signatures in order for the florida supreme court to look it over for constitutionality. If approved for constitutionality, the campaign can resume collecting the 700k signatures required to make the ballot.

This being Florida, Everest would be a more feasible endeavor.

Martha Focker · Sep 4, 2015

Have you ever been to florida? there's so much weed here you would think it was legal. the only thing stopping these bills from passing is pessimism. dude. this shit's gonna win. the only reason it didn't pass last election was because everyone was like "there's so many smokers here there's no way it can fail" one too many people got complacent and we only got to 58%. if we all do our part i'm sure 80% would vote yes. old people are the minority here this ain't your grandma's florida anymore.

m314 · Sep 4, 2015

Martha Focker said:
Have you ever been to florida? there's so much weed here you would think it was legal. the only thing stopping these bills from passing is pessimism. dude. this shit's gonna win. the only reason it didn't pass last election was because everyone was like "there's so many smokers here there's no way it can fail" one too many people got complacent and we only got to 58%. if we all do our part i'm sure 80% would vote yes. old people are the minority here this ain't your grandma's florida anymore.

I will be as happy as you are if this passes next year. I lived in the Orlando area for most of my life. Most of my family is still there. It will be wonderful when my family and friends can get weed legally without worrying about the legal risk. It will definitely happen at some point.

Captain Ginyu · Sep 18, 2015

One of the problems with florida is that the whole state is governed in Tallahassee. And the views of the people running things over there, are usually not the same as those who live in the southern part of the state.

Group seeks to legalize marijuana in Florida

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