Florida medical cannabis campaign takes step forward

United for Care, which was behind the failed 2014 campaign to legalize medical cannabis in Florida, is slowly making its way toward the 2016 ballot.

On Wednesday, the campaign announced that it has submitted 100,000 signatures to the Supervisor of Elections. Roughly 68,000 valid signatures are required for a state Supreme Court review as part of the process of qualifying the MMJ initiative for the ballot.

“This is a massive head start over the previous campaign – which started late,” United for Care Campaign Manager Ben Pollara said in a statement. “If we can sustain this pace, we should ensure our place on the ballot before the holidays.”

Pollara said he expects to get the state Supreme Court review date set by mid-August. Once United for Care gets the thumbs up from the court, it will have until February to collect just over 683,000 signatures to get the measure before Florida voters next November.

MMJ failed in Florida last year by a slim margin – it needed at least 60% of the vote to pass but only received 57.5%.

The presidential election next year is expected to increase turnout in swing states like Florida, and most observers expect United for Care’s measure to emerge victorious.

A Quinnipiac poll in April found that 84% of Florida voters support legalizing MMJ.