Florida voters reject Amendment 3 to legalize recreational marijuana
Florida voters rejected Amendment 3, a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults at least 21 years old and allowed them to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana. It failed to obtain the required 60% threshold at a time when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is making moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Florida’s Republican-dominated government has a lengthy history of opposing marijuana legalization. The approval of the marijuana measure wouldn’t have immediately made marijuana legal in Florida. It would have allowed the Florida Legislature to create regulations or decide how to implement the amendment during the legislative session that begins in March. “Smart & Safe Florida ran a historic, bipartisan campaign that achieved majority support among Floridians,” David Culver, the chief of policy at the U.S. Cannabis Council, said in a statement. “Anywhere else, that would have meant a victory, but Florida requires a supermajority, and the state’s governor spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to defeat the measure. This isn’t the end in Florida, it’s just the beginning since we’ve now seen how strongly the push for legalization resonates in the state.” Florida Republican officials were mixed on their support for this ballot measure. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislative leaders opposed the measure, with DeSantis saying it only benefits large marijuana corporations and would leave a marijuana stench in the air. But former President Donald Trump signaled support in early September for the measure and a potential federal policy shift to reclassify marijuana. He said he’d vote in favor of the initiative, one of the few positions where he and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris agreed. A medical marijuana ballot initiative in 2014 failed to receive the required 60% threshold to pass. In 2016, then-Gov. Rick Scott approved a law allowing medical marijuana for patients with terminal conditions, and in that same year Florida voters approved a ballot referendum that extended access to people with conditions including HIV, PTSD, Parkinson’s disease or Crohn’s disease.
Florida voters rejected Amendment 3, a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults at least 21 years old and allowed them to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana.
It failed to obtain the required 60% threshold at a time when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is making moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Florida’s Republican-dominated government has a lengthy history of opposing marijuana legalization.
The approval of the marijuana measure wouldn’t have immediately made marijuana legal in Florida. It would have allowed the Florida Legislature to create regulations or decide how to implement the amendment during the legislative session that begins in March.
“Smart & Safe Florida ran a historic, bipartisan campaign that achieved majority support among Floridians,” David Culver, the chief of policy at the U.S. Cannabis Council, said in a statement. “Anywhere else, that would have meant a victory, but Florida requires a supermajority, and the state’s governor spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to defeat the measure. This isn’t the end in Florida, it’s just the beginning since we’ve now seen how strongly the push for legalization resonates in the state.”
Florida Republican officials were mixed on their support for this ballot measure. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislative leaders opposed the measure, with DeSantis saying it only benefits large marijuana corporations and would leave a marijuana stench in the air.
But former President Donald Trump signaled support in early September for the measure and a potential federal policy shift to reclassify marijuana. He said he’d vote in favor of the initiative, one of the few positions where he and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris agreed.
A medical marijuana ballot initiative in 2014 failed to receive the required 60% threshold to pass. In 2016, then-Gov. Rick Scott approved a law allowing medical marijuana for patients with terminal conditions, and in that same year Florida voters approved a ballot referendum that extended access to people with conditions including HIV, PTSD, Parkinson’s disease or Crohn’s disease.
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