Florida voters reject ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana

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Florida voters rejected 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 meet the required 60% threshold, while the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration takes steps to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Florida’s Republican-dominated government has a long history of opposing marijuana legalization.

Another measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution was still too early on Tuesday evening.

The passage of the marijuana measure would not 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.

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Republican officials in Florida 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 companies and would leave a marijuana stench in the air.

But former President Donald Trump expressed support for the measure and a possible federal policy change to reclassify marijuana in early September. He said he would vote in favor of the initiative, one of the few positions he and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris agreed on.

A 2014 medical marijuana ballot initiative failed to reach the required 60% threshold. In 2016, then-Gov. Rick Scott passed a law allowing medical marijuana for patients with terminal conditions, and that same year, Florida voters approved a ballot referendum that expanded access to people with conditions like HIV, PTSD, Parkinson’s disease or Crohn’s disease .

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