Big Pot vs. Big Government in Florida
It might seem at odds with Florida’s hard-partying reputation that uptight states like Virginia and Missouri legalized recreational pot before it did. After all, Florida is a place where sea turtles get entangled in floating bales of cocaine and the Legislature recently named a highway after Jimmy Buffett. Yet Florida Man still can’t get high for fun—at least not legally.
The reason the Sunshine State is one of the last major holdouts for cannabis prohibition is because it is also one of the toughest states to pass a constitutional amendment. Amendments require a 60 percent supermajority vote to be ratified. It’s the highest bar in the country among states with a ballot initiative process, and it has proven fatal to previous legalization campaigns. The first time marijuana legalization was on the Florida ballot, in 2014, it failed even though 57 percent voted for it.
Florida voters then legalized medical marijuana in 2016 with a resounding 71 percent, although the state Legislature didn’t pass a law allowing medical card holders to smoke cannabis until 2019. From the consumer side, the current medical marjuana system is relatively painless, as long as you can afford the semiannual doctor consultations and state fees, have one of the qualifying conditions, and can jump through a few government hoops.
In other words, it’s no problem for the state’s many retirees. When Florida medical marijuana treatment centers, known as MMTCs, have big sales, you can see golf carts zipping into the parking lots and long queues of silver-haired patients waiting to pick up their orders.
The situation may soon change, thanks to Amendment 3, a ballot initiative that seeks to legalize recreational marijuana, allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to three ounces of marijuana and five grams of concentrated THC, which is commonly sold in the form of oil, wax, or resin. At least at first, only existing MMTCs would be allowed to sell recreational marijuana; the amendment would permit but not require the state Legislature to expand licensure outside of MMTCs. The measure has no provisions for home cultivation, for expungement of marijuana convictions, or for the “social equity” requirements that have popped up in other states.
The measure pits the most well-funded marijuana legalization campaign in U.S. history against the most powerful governor in modern Florida history. On one side is a group of multistate marijuana companies with a $60 million war chest. On the other is Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican dedicated to using the sheer force of government to make the state a bastion for culture-war conservatives. DeSantis also has one unusual ally: the state’s hemp industry, which would rather take its chances with Florida Republicans than get locked out of the recreational market.
Polls show that a solid majority of Florida voters in both major parties favor legalization. Even Florida resident Donald Trump announced his support for Amendment 3 in September. But thanks to the high bar for constitutional amendments, that once again may not be enough.
Riding on how Floridians vote in November are thousands of marijuana arrests a year and millions upon millions of dollars in profits for the couple-dozen companies that would be grandfathered into an exclusive new recreational market.
The stakes and the players involved in Amendment 3 are quintessential Florida. It all could have been ripped straight from the state’s history books: a campaign bankrolled by rent-seeking carpetbaggers who stand to get rich off the fact that even a system rigged in their favor is still preferable to the status quo. It’s Big Pot versus Big Government in the nation’s most famously zany state.
Longtime legalization advocates aren’t thrilled about the protectionist aspect of the amendment, but they also see an opportunity to take one of their biggest remaining targets off the board. “I think in a lot of ways it’s very clearly a money grab,” says Morgan Fox, political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “But it’s also a money-grab that is going to stop thousands of people from getting arrested every year.”
‘You Will Be Able To Bring 20 Joints to an Elementary School’
Amendment 3 has at least one clear advantage over the 2014 ballot measure: It arrives after legalization has already spread across the country and prohibitionists’ most dire predictions have failed to materialize. Teenage drug use has flatlined or declined, so culture-war conservatives, including DeSantis, have turned to another argument: Weed stinks.
“I’ve gone to some of these cities that have had this everywhere, it smells, there’s all these things,” DeSantis said at a press conference earlier this year. “I don’t want to be able to go walk in front of shops and have this. I don’t want every hotel to really smell.”
DeSantis’ complaints have veered into the hysterical: “I think you’re going to see people—you will be able to bring 20 joints to an elementary school,” he complained. “Is that really going to be good for the state of Florida? I don’t think so.” He has also griped about the expansiveness of the measure. “It is the broadest language I’ve ever seen. It seems to supersede any other regulatory regime that we have,” DeSantis said. “People in downtown areas and other communities, this is going to be part of your community.”
That is not true. The amendment does not limit the state Legislature or local governments from creating licensing regimes or time, place, and manner restrictions on marijuana businesses and consumption. In fact, the Hialeah City Council passed a resolution earlier this year vowing “to maintain a social, smoke-free social environment within the city” if Amendment 3 passes.
The main reason Amendment 3 isn’t more detailed is that ballot amendments in Florida are bound by a single-subject rule, which means they must present voters with only a single issue and not be confusing. Challenging marijuana ballot initiatives on pedantic single-subject grounds has become a go-to tactic for legalization opponents, says Matthew Schweich, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, an anti-prohibition group.
“We had a victory overturned in South Dakota in a single-subject lawsuit,” Schweich says. “We also had our Nebraska medical campaign kicked off the ballot, having already qualified, in 2020, due to a single-subject challenge. So we’re very sympathetic to those who are averse to taking risks in an initiative drafting process due to the threat of a single-subject rule, a
Article from Latest
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.