(NewsNation) — More than 60% of Florida voters rejected a ballot measure that would have legalized the possession and recreational use of marijuana for residents over the age of 21.
Florida Amendment 3 was passed/rejected after a record amount, estimated to be over $150 million, was spent on campaigns to support or oppose the resolution.
In 2016, 71% of voters approved legalizing the use of medical marijuana, which many experts believed would lead to Amendment 3 also being passed.
Because it’s a proposed constitutional amendment, a supermajority is required for the measure to pass. Since 2006, when the requirement of the 60% level of voter support was enacted, nine constitutional amendments have gone before Florida voters and received a majority of votes.
However, those nine proposals all failed to meet the 60% supermajority standard.
To aid Amendment’s 3 passage, more than $101 million was contributed by support groups, including Smart & Safe Florida and cannabis products manufacturer Trulieve. Meanwhile, Keep Florida Clean contributed more than $15.4 million to push back against the effort to legalize marijuana, while hedge fund manager Ken Griffin contributed $12 million to keep the measure from being passed.
In addition to making it legal to possess and use cannabis for recreational use, Amendment 3 allows the state to issue more licenses to regulate marijuana use. Many proponents believe the sale of legalized pot would help fund important state initiatives.
Support for the initiative also was split between former President Donald Trump and GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took opposing views on the issue. Trump called the legalization of marijuana inevitable, while DeSantis was among those who said that legalized pot would cause cities and towns in Florida to “start to smell like marijuana.” He also said legalized marijuana would give residents a license to use pot wherever they wanted.
Florida Amendment 3 allowed for the possession of up to three ounces of marijuana (about 85 grams) with up to five grams of marijuana in concentrated form. Existing medical marijuana treatment centers would be permitted to sell marijuana to residents over the age of 21 for personal use.
Before the election in Florida, 24 states and the District of Columbia had legalized possession and personal use of marijuana. In 13 of those states and Washington, D.C., a ballot initiative was needed to pass the measure. In two other states, legislative action was needed to get a proposed initiative before voters, while in nine other states, the legislature passed bills to legalize cannabis.
Florida is currently one of 10 states with initiatives that would legalize the use of recreational marijuana. Voters in Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota all cast ballots on the issue.
