WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A petition to support an amendment to make recreational marijuana legal in Florida could soon land in your mailbox.
The group, ‘Make It Legal Florida’, is now mailing out the fliers designed to get pot legalization on the November 2020 ballot.
Their goal is to make the process as easy as possible for voters with their names and addresses are already filled out on the petition. They don’t even need to buy a return stamp, just sign and send back.
“That’s going to make a monstrous difference,” said Robert Platshorn.
Platshorn was once know as America’s biggest marijuana smuggler.
In the 1970s, he was the so-called leader of the Black Tuna Gang, accused of importing around 500 tons of marijuana into the United States.
After spending nearly 30 years in federal prison, Platshorn now dedicates his life to being an activist and advocate of legalizing marijuana to help those who need it most.
“Most seniors cant afford to get on the registry,” he said.
It’s part of the reason Platshorn started the Silver Tour, in which he travels the country teaching seniors the benefits of medical marijuana. But for some, the cost is too much.
“When we go to senior communities that are less affluent, the stories I hear make me want cry,” he said.
Platshorn says legalizing recreational marijuana would give people a more affordable option to explore the benefits of Cannabis.
Several voters CBS12 News spoke with agreed, welcoming the idea.
“I don’t really believe that a person is going to commit a crime after smoking a marijuana cigarette,” said Barbara Glaser. “I think what they’re going to do is look for the nearest restaurant and laugh a lot. If that’s the worst thing that happens, it’s okay to legalize.”
Others support the push to legalize it, but say they are slightly concerned, not over the marijuana itself, but the shops that come along with it.
Antone Smith works and lives in downtown West Palm Beach. He says since the legalization of medical marijuana in Florida he’s watched busy Clematis Street transform.
“You’re seeing a lot of the staples of this block start to close. This building was recently bought. They’re going to be putting in medical marijuana dispensary here. There’s one two doors down. There’s one three doors down here. I think it’s a little overkill,” he said.
Make It Legal’s amendment would require cannabis sales to occur within already existing medical dispensaries and would block advertising that caters to kids.
The drug could only be sold to people over the age of 21 and would have to be sold in childproof packaging from dispensaries where anyone under the age of 21 is not allowed.
According to state law, a petition must undergo a Florida Supreme Court review before it can even be considered, and that can be done only after 76,632 signatures have been collected.
In order for the item to make it onto the ballot for the November 2020 general election, 766,200 copies of the petition must be signed by February.
As of now, recreational marijuana is fully legal in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
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