Florida is arresting marijuana legalization campaign workers

In a “major escalation” of the ongoing feud between state officials and the campaign to legalize adult-use marijuana in Florida, state Attorney General James Uthmeier announced dozens of new election fraud investigations Tuesday.

Stridently denied by Smart & Safe Florida, the campaign committee primarily bankrolled by Tallahassee-based marijuana multistate operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp., the fraud allegations come less than two weeks before a key deadline to qualify adult-use cannabis legalization for the 2026 ballot.

Smart & Safe Florida has until Feb. 1 to submit more than 880,000 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify adult-use cannabis legalization for the November ballot.

A voter initiative to pass a constitutional amendment in Florida requires at least 60% of the vote.

But with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration dead-set against cannabis reform, challenges have come from all sides.

Why is Florida arresting adult-use marijuana legalization campaign workers?

On Tuesday, Uthmeier called 50 petition circulators working for Smart & Safe “fraudsters,” claiming they had submitted signatures of state voters without their consent, including forging the signatures of deceased voters.

At least nine campaign workers have already been arrested, with “a half dozen more arrest warrants” expected this week, according to a Jan. 20 letter signed by Statewide Prosecutor Brad McVay.

McVay’s letter asks for subpoenas to be served directly on Smart & Safe to determine whether the campaign “itself” also violated election law.

The sweeping new criminal probe comes on the heels of “unprecedented pressure” on local elections officials to declare already submitted petitions invalid, Florida Politics reported.

A campaign spokesperson told Florida Politics that the campaign is obeying state election law and reporting discrepancies to the secretary of state.

“In short, it appears the Attorney General is taking issue with the fact that we explicitly follow the law,” the statement read.

Will Florida legalize adult-use cannabis in 2026?

Meanwhile, both the state and the legalization campaign are embroiled in lawsuits over already submitted petition signatures.

A Leon County judge last week ruled that 29,000 signatures collected by campaign workers from out of state must be invalidated – a ruling immediately appealed by the campaign.

Uthmeier is also accused of wrongdoing.

Uthmeier was DeSantis’ chief of staff in 2024, the last time Florida marijuana legalization appeared on the ballot – and when about $10 million in Medicaid settlement cash ended up in a campaign fund he controlled.

Cannabis advocates have accused the DeSantis administration of unlawfully using those funds to oppose marijuana legalization.

Florida, the biggest medical-only marijuana market in the country, is considered the adult-use industry’s best opportunity for expansion.

However, a recent poll commissioned by the state Chamber of Commerce found only 51% support for marijuana legalization, the lowest level in four years.