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FL Amendment 3, recreational marijuana legalization expected to fail

Pabio November 6, 2024

Florida Amendment 3 is expected to fail, with 56.9% voting yes. The amendment was sponsored by the state-registered political committee, Smart & Safe Florida.

The amendment required 60 percent of Florida voters to be approved and would have taken effect six months after its passage.

The amendment would have allowed adults 21 or older to purchase and use marijuana products for recreational purposes, such as smoking and ingestion. It also would have allowed only medical marijuana treatment centers to gather, manufacture and sell marijuana products and accessories, meaning Floridians can’t just start growing marijuana.

Floridians would have been allowed to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana and 5 grams of marijuana in concentrated form for recreational use.

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According to Smart & Safe Florida, Amendment 3 would have ensured that public spaces would remain smoke-free, laws would have been put in place to prevent smoking in undesignated areas, and would have enforced and established rules prohibiting smoking. smoke.

Dr. Jessica Spencer, with the Vote No on 3 campaign, thanked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for helping to defeat Amendment 3.

“We are grateful for the unwavering support of the Governor and First Lady of Florida, whose conviction, courage and fearlessness … were unwavering,” Spencer said in a statement.

Smart & Safe Florida said it will continue to work with Governor DeSantis and other lawmakers to address marijuana issues in the state.

“Although the results of Amendment 3 did not cross the 60 percent threshold, we look forward to working with the governor and legislative leaders who agree with us on decriminalizing recreational marijuana for adults, on public consumption, on continuing our focus on child safety, and on expanding access to safe marijuana through home cultivation,” Smart & Safe Florida said in a statement.

This is the language voters saw on their ballots for Amendment 3:

Allows adults 21 years of age or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and paraphernalia for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingesting, or otherwise; permits medical marijuana treatment centers and other state-licensed entities to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute these products and accessories. Applies to Florida law; does not modify or immunize against violations of federal law. Establishes possession limits for personal use. Allows for consistent legislation. Defines terms. Provides the effective date.

In the 2016 general election, Amendment 2 passed by 71.3% of Florida voters to legalize comprehensive medical marijuana for qualified patients suffering from conditions including HIV, PTSD, ALS and others medical problems. Three years later, the Florida Legislature allowed smokable forms of medical marijuana as well as THC vaping under the program.

Before 2016, low-THC marijuana strains were only permitted for terminally ill patients.