Connect with us

Cannabis News

Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Sues State Over ‘Nonsensical’ Delay In Ballot Initiative Review

Published

1 month ago

on

A Florida campaign working to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the 2026 ballot has filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court, alleging that officials are violating election laws by unjustifiably stalling the review process for the measure.

Smart & Safe Florida filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday, alleging that the secretary of state has failed to comply with the law’s mandate to “immediately send” enough signatures to the attorney general to initiate a fiscal and legal review.

With 662,543 signatures verified by the Secretary of State so far, that’s more than triple the 220,016 signatures needed to push the review forward. The campaign reached that initial threshold over the summer and notified state officialsbut he says that he has not received an answer.

“It is senseless, and contrary to specific constitutional and statutory orders, that the Secretary (of State) and the Director (of the Division of Elections) indefinitely refuse to issue the Article 15.21 letter and frustrate the constitutional order,” the filing says, referring to the notification that the Secretary of State must send to the attorney general when the signature is received.

Attorneys for the campaign also noted that Smart & Safe Florida is involved in other lawsuits state is taking ‘illegal’ steps to force nearly 200,000 voter signatures to be invalidated has presented Officials say the signatures are invalid because the petitions signed by voters do not include the full text of the initiative.

“Therefore, perhaps Respondents speculate that the Secretary’s Directive may ultimately result in the invalidation of a sufficient number of Petitions to bring the measure below the threshold for issuing Section 15.21,” the Supreme Court said. “It’s a dubious presumption at best that Smart & Safe has collected more than three times the number of valid verified applications required statewide and nearly doubled the number of congressional districts.”

“In any event, speculation about Defendants’ motive is futile here because the law is clear that Smart & Safe has the right, and Defendants have a mandatory statutory duty, to issue a Section 15.21, because the statutory requirements have been met,” it says.

“The Secretary and the Director seem to see that the regional officials are valid and behind the reported requests (and as reflected on the Division’s website). The respondents seem to be refusing Article 15.21, that the fulfillment of the Secretary’s Directive by the county officials can lead to the Request that there is no legal source of the authors.

what the case The goal is to compel the court to “force the Florida Secretary of State to follow Florida law and fulfill his mandatory statutory duty to advance the ballot initiative for Supreme Court review as required by the Florida Constitution,” Smart & Safe Florida said in a statement.

“Florida law clearly states that once a statewide ballot initiative collects more than 25 percent of the signatures, the Secretary of State must begin the Supreme Court review process and forward the language to the state Attorney General,” he said. “For reasons unknown, that has not happened, and we are asking the court to step in and compel the secretary to follow Florida’s long-standing law, as Florida Smart & Safe far exceeded that threshold last summer.”

As for the other issue regarding the state’s effort to cancel the approximately 200,000 signatures already collected, the secretariat initially Smart & Safe sent a letter of resignation to Florida in Marchadvising the campaign on the interpretation of the rules regarding the inclusion of the full text of the proposed initiative in its petitions for signatures.

This is the second vote of the campaign. They successfully got a vote on a version of the 2024 initiative, and a majority voted to pass it, but not enough to meet the state’s 60 percent threshold to pass a constitutional amendment.

In the background of this case, in August a federal judge ruled against Smart & Safe Florida—Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to provide “full relief” from provisions of a law he signed to impose other severe restrictions on signature gathering.

Although the law DeSantis signed in May was not directly aimed at the cannabis initiative, there has been concern among supporters that it could jeopardize an already complex and expensive process to gather enough signatures to put it on the ballot. That’s because it would block non-residents and non-citizens from collecting signatures for ballot measures.

In March, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate What they described as an “illegal diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds Through a group with ties to DeSantis. The money was used to fight a popular ballot initiative the governor vehemently opposed that would have legalized adult marijuana.

The lawmakers’ letter alleges that a $10 million donation from a state legislative settlement was misappropriated to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, and sent $8.5 million to the anti-Amendment 3 campaign.

The governor said this in February The latest measure to legalize marijuana is in “big trouble” with the state Supreme CourtHe announced that it will be blocked from going before the voters next year.

“There are a lot of different views on marijuana,” DeSantis said. “It shouldn’t be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have a legislative election. Bring back the candidates you think will be able to deliver what you think about it.”

“But when you put these things in the Constitution, and I think, I mean, the way they were written, there’s all kinds of things going on here. I think it’s going to have a lot of trouble getting passed by the Florida Supreme Court,” he said.

the last the initiative It was introduced to the secretary of state just months after initial versions failed in the November 2024 election, despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

The revised version of Smart & Safe Florida is expected to be successful in 2026. The campaign — which received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry players in the last election cycle, notably from multi-state operator Trulieve — introduced some changes in the new version that address criticisms of opponents of the 2024 push.

For example, it now specifically states that “smoking and vaping marijuana in any public place is prohibited.” Another section states that the legislature should adopt rules governing the “time, place and public manner of consuming marijuana.”

—
It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters By pledging at least $25 per month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts and audio calendars so you never miss a development.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracking and become a Patreon supporter to gain access
—

Last year, the governor accurately predicted this The campaign’s 2024 cannabis measure would survive a legal challenge From the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he thinks this version will face a different outcome.

Although there is uncertainty about how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released in February It showed the overwhelming support of a bipartisan voter for reform— 67% of Florida voters support legalization, including 82% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 55% of Republicans.

However, the results echo another recent poll by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a proactive opponent of legalization, which found a majority in favor of reform among likely voters (53 percent). but not enough to be able to set the 60 percent condition.

Another poll of Republican voters in Florida showed only 40 percent of that demographic said they would vote for it of the legalization proposal.

Also, a GOP senator from Florida recently claimed this the legalization campaign “tricked” Trump into supporting the 2024 measure misleading him and the general public about key provisions.

Before the election, Trump said he was sorry last September The 3rd Amendment “would have been great” for the state.

Before commenting, Trump met with Truliev CEO Kim Riverseven with a GOP state senator who favors reform.

Meanwhile, there are medical marijuana officials in Florida actively expunging the records of patients and caregivers with drug-related criminal records. The policy is part of the sweeping budget legislation that DeSantis signed into law earlier this year. The aforementioned provisions address the State Department of Health (DOH). void the records of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if convicted of drug offenses, or pleaded guilty or no contest.

Photo elements courtesy of the user rawpixel and Philip Steffan.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with the help of readers. If you rely on our pro-cannabis journalism to stay informed, consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Become a patron on Patreon!

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Cannabis News

The forgotten story behind autoflowering cannabis

Published

7 hours ago

on

December 6, 2025

By

Many of the things that are common in modern cannabis come from a time when curiosity about the plant could lead to real problems. With the market now dominated by hybrid genetics, it is a common belief that it is almost impossible to bring anything back to an original cultivar. However, many of these initial building blocks came from the first wave of cannabis exploration, when a handful of growers traveled across continents in search of unique local varieties. Nevil Schoenmakers was one of them, and what he spotted on the side of a highway during a trip to Turkey left a mark on the history of cannabis that has never been erased.

On the way to Turkey
Dwight Diotte of D9 Canna Consulting still remembers those early years. A time when the modern industry was just an idea and the world of cannabis lived in the shadows between one country and another. Everyone in that circle followed clues more than maps, and it all felt like a treasure hunt with pocket knives and curiosity.

So how did cannabis ruderalis enter the cannabis world. The story begins with a road trip. Nevil was moving through Eastern Europe on one of his journeys to find his seed when he saw something strange on a highway in Hungary. The plants, already in flower, stand out against the July heat. He stopped so suddenly that his car screeched. Then he ran across like someone who had just seen a myth pass by.

© Dwight Diotte

He took some branches and dried them in the car heater. He soon realized that what he found was something special. He paused again, and turned around. Turkey could wait. What he had just discovered demanded attention, “and perhaps saved him from a more dangerous detour,” Dwight notes. The Cold War was still very real and the borders of that region were not yet friendly to roving plant hunters.

Sparking the seeds of something new
By the time Dwight saw Nevil the following year in the Netherlands, the seeds of the mystery were already on the table. They were tiny, dark and impossible to germinate with the usual tricks. Dwight remembers gently cracking the pebbles and soaking them as Nevil thought animals might do in the wild. “It felt less like horticulture and more like archaeology,” Dwight recalls.

Once they sprouted, the surprise came quickly. These were no ordinary plants. They went from seed to flower oblivious to the light of day and seemed determined to complete their cycle, encouraged or not. The concept of autoflowering did not yet exist. “Nevil saw the plants blooming on the fifth or seventh node and understood that something new was on the table.”

This was the birth of the modern ruderalis work, although at the time no one was thinking in neat categories. “We were trying to understand what we found.”

Claiming ownership
Dwight wandered between Canada and Europe during those years and witnessed it all. He helped raise funds for what would later become the famous Cannabis Castle, watched the early grow in action and watched Nevil push ruderalis as far as he could before returning to his passion for long-flowering cannabis. “The Finola project was created in the mid-90s and its founders claimed credit for the autoflowering breakthrough, even though the genetics went back to the same region that Nevil had explored, if not the same plants as Nevil himself,” Dwight said.

Everyone involved in that era seemed to reinvent themselves every season. The seed companies changed their names. Growers moved between projects. Some developed legendary cultivars. Others disappeared completely from public life. Through it all, Nevil remained a figure who kept one foot in research mode and the other in business reality. When the Dutch tightened regulations in the nineties, the landscape changed again, and a series of legal dramas followed across continents. “A few years later the dust settled and life moved on, but the seeds of his legacy had already been planted.”

According to Dwight, many of the fog lines that dominate the shelves today have their origins in Nevil. “It’s the same in the autoflowering category. Even after turning his attention away from ruderalis, he produced work that breeders talk about in low tones and reverence.”

Heritage
Dwight still grows ruderalis for fun. He says that plants teach him things. He says that even after forty years they still amaze him. “Nevil Schoenmakers always worked with what he found and let the plants say what they wanted to be. But the evidence is hard to ignore. When the first little black seeds were opened in Hungary, the industry of the future cracked with them. And even today, every time an autoflower appears on a legal shelf anywhere in the world, a small part of that moment is still on the side of the road in Eastern Europe.”

Continue Reading

Cannabis News

World Health Organization Won’t Ease Coca Leaf Ban, Even As Review Found Prohibition Is More Dangerous Than The Plant

Published

7 hours ago

on

December 6, 2025

By

“It is unacceptable for humanity to demonize a sacred medicinal plant. It was a political decision rather than a scientific one.”

By Mattha Busby, Filter

The The World Health Organization had a historic opportunity to ease the strict global ban on the coca leaf-ban, campaigners said, “racist and colonial” the roots. But the agency has decided not to.

WHO expert review he determined in September how millions of people in the Andes consume the coca leaf daily as part of a long-standing cultural practice without significant negative effects, and conversely that coca control strategies are associated with significant public health harm.

And yet, on December 2nd, the WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) recommended that the plant be kept in Annex I of the United Nations drug treaties—the most restrictive category of control—because coca leaves can be converted relatively easily into cocaine.

“The simplicity of extracting cocaine from cocaine and its high yield and profitability are well known,” ECDD wrote. “The Commission has also examined evidence of significant increases in the cultivation of cocaine and the production of cocaine-related substances in the context of significant and growing public health concerns about the use of cocaine. In this context, the Commission believes that the reduction or elimination of international controls on the coca leaf may pose a particularly serious risk to public health.”

The commission noted a 34 percent year-on-year increase in cocaine production in 2023, with some countries experiencing historically high levels. But supporters of reform emphasize that coke is not cocaine. They point out that the WHO review supports the plant’s medical potential and the lack of evidence of problematic coca leaf use anywhere in the world — two key criteria a drug must meet to be placed on a less restrictive schedule.

“It is unacceptable for humanity to demonize a sacred medicinal plant”, Jaison Perez Villafaña, guardian of wisdom or mother From the Arhuaco community in Colombia, he said The filter. “It was a political decision rather than a scientific one. Coca leaf (help) is not to blame for the fact that humans with economic interests turned it into cocaine”.

The ECDD said it recognized that “the coca leaf has important cultural and therapeutic value to indigenous peoples and other communities and that there are exceptions to the traditional use of the coca leaf in certain national settings.” A coalition of indigenous coca leaf producers and consumers he wrote The WHO in October asked the UN body to “clearly distinguish” between traditional coca use and cocaine-related issues.

Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, called the WHO’s suggestion that keeping coca on Schedule 1 would limit cocaine production “ridiculous”, saying the decision exposed the “moral and scientific failure” of drug control worldwide.

“While we might expect them to emerge from political institutions embedded in drug war narratives, there was a sense that the more objective, scientific and nominally independent corners of the UN would maintain a level of pragmatism and principle, even if their recommendations were later rejected by UN political entities.” he wrote It’s LinkedIn.

“The dangers of cocaine powder or smoked crack cocaine, creations of the global North, which is also by far the largest market for both, depend on the traditional use of coca, chewed or in tea, which only occurs in the South,” added Rolles. “It is the global South where the burden of the failed war on cocaine and the criminalization of entire cultures is felt most acutely.”

In 2020, following a WHO recommendation, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to ease international controls on cannabis, recognizing its medical value after decades of “referral madness”. For reform advocates, the decision represented a slow and delayed shift to evidence-based programming. That is why there was hope that the UN system could also separate the coca leaf — which contains less than 1 percent of the alkaloid cocaine — from the refined powder that feeds global demand.

However, coca will continue to be treated as if it has the same risk profile as cocaine, after a WHO review confirmed that coca chewing has not caused any documented deaths, is not associated with high addiction or “abuse” potential, and has possible therapeutic applications, from anti-inflammatory effects to modest improvements in post-meal glucose.

“The WHO decision is deeply disappointing and disturbing,” Ann Fordham, executive director of the International Council on Drug Policy, said in a press release. “This was no ordinary study, it was a critical test of the UN drug control system. The Commission has demonstrated that it cannot objectively assess the evidence or consider the human rights implications of prohibition. Instead, it has chosen to reinforce the racist and colonial foundations of international drug control. This decision makes it clear that the system is broken and resistant to meaningful reform.”

Experts have long argued that the logic behind the coca ban is selective and ignores existing treaty precedent. Plants such as ephedra used to manufacture methamphetamine, psilocybin-containing mushrooms, and cacti that produce mescaline remain unscheduled at the plant level, although they are used to produce controlled substances.

While open persecution of coca chewers has eased in the Andes, the ban still shapes daily life in parts of the region, from farmers losing crops to stopping aerial fumigation campaigns, eradication forces and communities caught between the networks that dominate the cocaine trade. In a September study, an independent group of experts hired by the WHO said that studies that showed exposure to harmful glyphosate-based pesticides such as Roundup, a probable carcinogen, by aerial spraying of coca crops by authorities “increased the number of abortions and increased the number of medical consultations related to dermatological and respiratory diseases in communities”.

The review added that another study showed that forced coca eradication encouraged coca growers to increase production through the use of toxic agrochemicals “on more or subsequent coca plots, increasing exposure to these chemicals.”

Villafaña and other indigenous leaders have warned that these pressures are cultural violence. Coca is central to Andean communities’ spiritual practice, conflict resolution, work, ceremony, and community health; however, using it outside of the narrow “traditional” exemptions puts people at risk of criminal penalties.

“It would be useful for us as a culture,” said Villafaña, “if the world recognized it as a sacred plant and did not demonize it.” But, he added, the decision would not otherwise affect his community, as its members will continue to chew coca as they have always done.

This the article Originally published by the author the filteran online magazine that deals with drug use, drug policy and human rights from a harm reduction perspective. Keep the filter on Bluesky, X or Facebookand sign up for their newsletter.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with the help of readers. If you rely on our pro-cannabis journalism to stay informed, consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Continue Reading

Cannabis News

We are full of plans

Published

1 day ago

on

December 5, 2025

By






Marc Salvany and Ad van der Vorst:






“We are full of plans,” Agrolux director Marc Salvany told the more than 40 participants who attended the Six Days track cycling event in Rotterdam last Wednesday, invited by Agrolux. They were given a look behind the scenes (and the route), and a moment was set aside to find out how the new management sees the future of the company. “We want to honor the legacy of the Agrolux brand, a brand that many of you have known for so long.”

© Agrolux Nederland BVMarc Salvany and Ad van der Vorst

Paying homage to the brand
Last Wednesday, while the riders on the Ahoy track were cycling around the unbearably slow or lightning-fast track, a special moment was happening in the middle of the cycling track: the introduction of the revamped Agrolux.

Since the end of September, Agrolux has been independent again, and the group has big ambitions for the beginning of this new era. Although it may seem counterintuitive, they will not focus on selling as many devices as possible. Marc explained that it is much more to strengthen relations with the sector and customers. “Many producers have been working with Agrolux for years. These are the long-term partnerships we believe in and the ones we want to continue, because together we can achieve success.”

CEO Ad van der Vorst added that in recent years the company has not been properly organized to support this long-term market vision. “But we’re excited about the horticulture industry, we see it as having tremendous potential, and we’re excited to tackle it.”

In recent months, the team has grown and is investing heavily in product development and innovation. “New software and more modular and sustainable products,” said Ad. But more about that at Fruit Logistic in Berlin, because it was also possible to see it by bike, of course.

View of the track and the center area© Arlette Sijmonsma | MMJDaily.com

© AgroluxWith Sander Verbeek (SV.CO) and Bram Zwinkels (Gavita International BV). Sebastian Mora (left) and Robbe Ghys (right)

For more information:
Gavita International
(email protected)
www.agrolux.com










Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2021 The Art of MaryJane Media