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Florida Medical Marijuana for Mental Health Disorders Initiative (2022)
| Florida Medical Marijuana for Mental Health Disorders Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Marijuana | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Florida Medical Marijuana for Mental Health Disorders Initiative (Initiative #18-02) was not on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.[1]
The measure would have amended Amendment 2 (2016), which legalized medical marijuana in Florida, to add nine mental health disorders to the list of qualifying conditions to purchase and use medical marijuana.[1]
The additions to the qualifying conditions list would have included bipolar disorder, opioid use disorder, panic disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, insomnia disorder, alcohol use disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and major depressive disorder (MDD).[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The proposed title was as follows:[1]
| “ | Expanded Medical Marijuana to Include Mental Health[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The proposed ballot summary was as follows:[1]
| “ | Expands the current definition of debilitating medical conditions, allowing the medical use of marijuana for mental health. Floridians suffering from mental health disorders such as Bipolar Disorder, Panic Disorder, Anorexia, Opioid Use Disorder, and other disorders will qualify as medical marijuana patients. Applies only to Florida law, and does not immunize violations of federal law.[2] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article X, Florida Constitution
The measure would have amended Section 29(b) of Article X of the Florida Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added:[1]
(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) “Debilitating Medical Condition” means cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder, opioid use disorder, panic disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, insomnia disorder, alcohol use disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.[2]
Sponsors
Peaceful Minds for Medical Marijuana sponsored the initiative.[1]
Background
Medical marijuana in the United States
As of May 2021, 36 states and Washington, D.C., had passed laws legalizing or decriminalizing medical marijuana. Additionally, 10 states had legalized the use of cannabis oil, or cannabidiol (CBD)—one of the non-psychoactive ingredients found in marijuana—for medical purposes.[3] In one state—Idaho—medical marijuana was illegal, but the use of a specific brand of FDA-approved CDB, Epidiolex, was legal.[4] Based on 2019 population estimates, 67.5 percent of Americans lived in a jurisdiction with access to medical marijuana.
Unique instances
Idaho: In 2015, the Idaho State Legislature passed a bill legalizing certain types of CBD oil that was later vetoed by Governor Butch Otter (R). In response, Otter issued an executive order allowing children with intractable epilepsy to use Epidiolex in certain circumstances. [5]
South Dakota: In 2019, the South Dakota State Legislature passed a bill amending one section of law by adding Epidiolex to its list of controlled substances. The bill also exempted CBD from the state's definition of marijuana in that section.[6] Elsewhere in state law, CBD was not exempted from the definition of marijuana. This discrepancy led to confusion that left the legal status of CBD in the state unclear for a year.[7]
After the 2019 changes, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) issued a statement, wherein he argued all forms of CBD oil, apart from Epidiolex, were illegal under state law.[8] Several state's attorneys expressed disagreement with the Attorney General's statements. Aaron McGown and Tom Wollman, state's attorneys for Minnehaha and Lincoln counties, respectively, issued a joint statement where they said the discrepancy left legality open to differing interpretations. Mark Vargo, the Pennington County state's attorney, said his office would not prosecute CBD cases based on his interpretation of the state law.[7]
On March 27, 2020, Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed House Bill 1008 into law, which legalized industrial hemp and CBD oil in the state.[9]
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Florida, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8% of the votes cast in the preceding presidential election. Florida also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equaling at least 8% of the district-wide vote in the last presidential election be collected from at least half (14) of the state's 28 congressional districts. Signatures remain valid until February 1 of an even-numbered year.[10] Signatures must be verified by February 1 of the general election year the initiative aims to appear on the ballot.
Proposed measures are reviewed by the state attorney general and state supreme court after proponents collect 25% of the required signatures across the state in each of one-half of the state's congressional districts (222,898 signatures for 2024 ballot measures). After these preliminary signatures have been collected, the secretary of state must submit the proposal to the Florida Attorney General and the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC). The attorney general is required to petition the Florida Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on the measure's compliance with the single-subject rule, the appropriateness of the title and summary, and whether or not the measure "is facially invalid under the United States Constitution."[11]
The requirements to get an initiative certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 891,589 valid signatures
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was February 1, 2022. As election officials have 30 days to check signatures, petitions should be submitted at least one month before the verification deadline.
In Florida, proponents of an initiative file signatures with local elections supervisors, who are responsible for verifying signatures. Supervisors are permitted to use random sampling if the process can estimate the number of valid signatures with 99.5% accuracy. Enough signatures are considered valid if the random sample estimates that at least 115% of the required number of signatures are valid.
Details about the initiative
The initiative was approved for circulation on April 6, 2018.[1]
- Sponsors did not submit the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot by the deadline on February 1, 2022.[12]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Florida Department of Elections, "Initiative Information," accessed April 11, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ This count excludes states that permitted both the use of cannabis oil and medical marijuana.
- ↑ CBD School, "CBD Laws by State 2020 - Just the Facts (is CBD legal in 2020?)," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ Idaho Office of Drug Policy, "Cannabidiol (CBD)," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ South Dakota Legislature official website, "2019 Senate Bill 22 - Enrolled," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Argus Leader, "Is CBD oil illegal? Confusion reigns over South Dakota's law," April 19, 2019
- ↑ South Dakota Attorney General official website, "Attorney General Ravnsborg clarifies questions regarding industrial hemp and CBD (Cannabidiol) oil," March 25, 2019
- ↑ Argus Leader, "Industrial hemp becomes legal in South Dakota after Noem signs bill," March 27, 2020
- ↑ Before the passage of Florida Senate Bill 1794 of 2020, signatures remained valid for a period of two years
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Florida Senate Bill 1794," accessed April 13, 2020
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMeasure
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