As Smart & Safe Florida renews their bid to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida during the 2026 midterm elections, one of their petition gatherers has been charged with 144 counts in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties for allegedly signing marijuana legalization petitions with fictitious names.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Sept. 9 that they charged 24-year-old Miami native Jessica Humphreys with 72 counts of petition fraud and 72 counts of perjury for allegedly signing fictitious names for Florida’s Amendment 3 petition to legalize recreational marijuana prior to the 2024 general election.

“FDLE agents contacted Humphreys at her residence in Miami Gardens and she confirmed she was a paid petition gatherer for several counties in North Florida, including Escambia and Santa Rosa,” an FDLE release said. “In November 2023, FDLE agents obtained two arrest warrants for Humphreys: one for the crimes committed in Escambia County and one for the crimes committed in Santa Rosa County.”

Humphreys was first arrested by Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s deputies on Jan. 29, 2024, and then arrested again by the Coral Springs Police Department on Aug. 15, 2025, for additional counts related to FDLE’s warrants.

The News Journal reached out to Smart & Safe Florida for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

According to Escambia court records, she has pleaded not guilty to all charges. She remains in Escambia County Jail with a Santa Rosa County hold after her bondsman was notified she failed to appear in Santa Rosa court for her arraignment.

Smart & Safe Florida mailed new petitions after 2024 failed initiative

After the organization’s petition to legalize marijuana and enshrine it in the state’s constitution failed to garner 60% of voter, Smart & Safe Florida has since filed for a new ballot amendment as it sets its sights on the midterm elections in 2026.

The company has sent out a new petition to Florida residents to sign that outlines the ballot summary, which uses more specific language targeting some of the criticisms aimed toward Amendment 3 from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Florida’s new recreational marijuana amendment petition adds language prohibiting smoking in public

DeSantis claimed that police wouldn’t be able to prevent people from smoking recreational marijuana in parks, bars or other public places. Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, who supported Amendment 3, told the Tallahassee Democrat that it would have been up to the Legislature to determine the rules surrounding how the amendment would be implemented.

“Listen, if they don’t want smoking in public, fine,” he added. “Tell the Legislature to make sure we say no smoking in public places. But don’t lie to Floridians and say this is one thing when you yourself know that that’s not the case.”

The new amendment now explicitly states that smoking and vaping would be prohibited in public places. The amendment defines public places as “all parks, beaches, public transit, roads, sidewalks, trails, or other ways or thoroughfares dedicated to public use or owned or maintained by the state or any political subdivision of the state, and all schools, arenas, facilities, buildings and grounds owned, leased, operated, or maintained by the state or any political subdivision of the state.”

Marijuana petition lowers the legal possession limit

The new marijuana petition lowers the legal petition limit from 3 ounces to 2 ounces. Adults would still be able to carry up to 5 grams of cannabis concentrate.

Florida marijuana petition full text

Contributors: Brandon Girod, PNJ

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida marijuana petition gatherer Smart & Safe Florida arrested