Florida fails to pass an amendment legalizing recreational marijuana

A ballot measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state of Florida failed Tuesday.

While 55.9% of Florida voters supported the proposed amendment, it did not reach the 60% threshold needed to make the initiative part of the state's constitution.

“With the rejection of Amendment 3, Floridians have taken a strong stand against the dangerous drugs that marijuana profiteers tried to convince the public are harmless,” said Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes the legalization of marijuana. statement.

“Amendment 3 was bad for Florida and even worse for Floridians,” Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “This pro-drug amendment was bad for our kids, bad for our communities, bad for our local businesses and ultimately bad for Florida.”

David Culver, senior vice president of the U.S. Cannabis Council, told the Washington Post that Florida's required supermajority threshold was too high to overcome this election.

“This is not the end in Florida, it is just the beginning as we have now seen how strongly the push for legalization resonates in the state,” Culver added.

Florida wasn't the only state to say no to recreational marijuana this election: Voters in North Dakota and South Dakota appear to have rejected similar measures again, the Post reported.

Meanwhile, voters in Nebraska handily approved two measures legalizing medical marijuana, even though a judge could invalidate these results in the coming weeks, the Post reported.

Psychedelics, which have been touted by some as a possible treatment for depression and other mental health problems, also took a hit at the polls: In Massachusetts, voters rejected a measure that would have legalized plant psychedelics such as magic mushrooms for therapeutic use. Oregon and Colorado have already passed such laws, the Post reported.

Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 24 states and Washington DC, amid dramatic shifts in public opinion about the drug. Gallup polls last year reported that a record 70% of voters support the legalization of marijuana.

While marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, the Biden administration is trying to make it illegal loosen limitationsbut skeptics argue that potent marijuana products pose a risk to young people's brain development and increase the chances of addiction.

The Biden measure would not legalize marijuana at the federal level, but would instead place it in the less dangerous tier of controlled substances, including prescription ketamine and testosterone. The move could boost research into marijuana's health benefits by loosening federal restrictions on studying the drug.

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