The Road to Recreational Marijuana in Florida Starts Next Week

When Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis takes office next week, the road to marijuana legalization in Florida begins. Two court appeals that could open up the market and the path to smoking the stuff may be undercut — and a petition drive to put recreational pot on the 2020 ballot will gain steam.

An appeals hearing is set for Monday on a decision by former Miami-Dade child advocate and now Tallahassee Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers that would allow medicinal pot smoking in the state. Gievers ruled this past June 5 that legislators violated the will of voters — 71.5 percent of whom approved medicinal pot — by banning smokable weed. But in a court document, state House general counsel Adam Tanenbaum held out the “possibility” the Department of Health will remove itself from the case.

The same day, events begin leading up to DeSantis’ swearing-in on Tuesday. His lieutenant governor, Jeanette Núñez, recently told the News Service of Florida the governor might also remove the state from a lawsuit challenging limits on the number of companies involved in the state’s marijuana trade. [Read more at Broward Palm Beach New Times]