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Medical Marijuana Appears Ready For 2016 Ballot

A medical marijuana measure is one step closer to the ballot.
Scott Beale via Flickr

An initiative that could expand medical marijuana use in Florida appears ready for the ballot.  It has cleared review by the Florida Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court approved ballot language Thursday for the amendment championed by personal injury lawyer John Morgan and an organization he bankrolls called People United for Medical Marijuana.  After failing in the previous election, supporters regrouped to tweak the initiative in hopes of gaining passage in 2016.  Unlike last time, Attorney General Pam Bondi chose not to oppose the ballot language before the court. 

With Supreme Court approval, the last piece of the puzzle is verifying signatures.  Initiatives need about 700,000 of them, but with 900,000 already gathered, the organization believes it has enough to meet threshold.  

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.