Smart & Safe Take 2, the political action committee created to support the legalization initiative is back in action. They have drafted a new petition and have initiated a plan to put it on the ballot! The initiative was recognized by the Department of Elections on January 15, 2025 and is aiming for the November 2026 ballot.

Famed attorney John Morgan speaks often of the 2014 and 2016 Medical Marijuana initiatives. John is quick to say they figured out where the problems were in 2014 and got it right for 2016. Maybe. Nine years after the passage of Amendment 2, we are still ironing out the wrinkles.. 

The new initiative Smart & Safe Take 2 attempts to overcome the objections lodged in 2024 with some significant changes in language. The initiative signals support for additional licenses, pays homage to the medical industry by reducing possession limits for adult use, and pacifies the smoking concerns.  David McKinney, a member of our Board of Directors, did a side-by-side comparison of the 2024 and 2026 proposals and found these highlighted changes below. 

Changes in the 2026 Language

• Separate licenses are just for non-medical businesses.
• Non-medical “Licensed Marijuana Entities” (LME) do not need to be vertically integrated.
• LMEs are subject to DOH rules.
• Removes language about accessories completely.
• Removes references to marijuana “products.”
• Defines “Public place.”
• Adds explicit language allowing private property owners to ban use on their property.
• Legislature shall adopt time, place, and manner for public consumption.
• The legislature shall adopt licensed marijuana entities.
• Nothing shall prohibit the legislature from providing for home cultivation.
• Nothing shall prohibit the legislature from providing for taxation of sales.
• Effective on the first day of the 6th month instead of 6 months.
• Allows possession of 2 ounces of flower, of which 5 grams can be in concentrate form, for adults

Even as Governor DeSantis was calling a Special Session last week, with an eye on further limiting Constitutional Amendments, Smart & Safe Take 2 was launching a massive mailing campaign. Households around the state have received pre-printed petition forms, and a blank copy for a friend, along with pre-paid return postage. One of the Governor’s proposals would limit the use of petition gatherers, forcing citizens to go directly to the Supervisor of Elections Office to deliver their own petition by hand! This new mailing campaign is nothing short of brilliant. 

If you have not received the new petition in the mail, click here to get a copy you can print, sign, and return. 

Tune into our Facebook Page on Wednesday night February 5, 2025, to listen in on our live discussion about this new proposal.