In a shocking upset, Florida voters on Tuesday failed to legalize recreational marijuana, even as they overwhelmingly backed President Donald Trump, who had endorsed the measure months prior.
Florida’s Amendment 3 fell four points short of the threshold required to change the state’s constitution. Legalization initiatives in North and South Dakota also failed by much wider margins, resulting in a nationwide rout for recreational pot.
The failure of Amendment 3, which would have made Florida the 25th and largest red state to legalize, is a particularly brutal loss for advocates of marijuana legalization. As I wrote in City Journal in August, this election presented Floridians with the opportunity to turn the tide against legalization. Last night, they seized that chance.
Why did Amendment 3 fail? Much of the credit goes to Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who fought tooth-and-nail against the measure. Last-minute support from donors, including $12 million from right-leaning billionaire Ken Griffin, probably helped, too.
Yet DeSantis and the No on 3 campaign were outgunned in many ways. The Yes on 3 campaign grabbed endorsements from every major Florida newspaper and outspent the opposition nearly $5 to $1.
Over 90 percent of that backing coming from Trulieve, the marijuana company that expected to make a killing in a Florida legal marketplace. That’s probably part of why Amendment 3 failed: it was too conspicuous of a cash grab, even for laid-back Floridians.
But another part of the story almost certainly involves concerns about what legalization would do. It is no longer possible to dupe voters into believing that legal weed has no downsides. In a recent Gallup poll, a majority of Americans for the first time said that pot negatively affects both society and most people who use it.
They believe this because they’ve seen the problems that it creates: addiction; accidents; psychosis; homelessness; and the pervasive smell of marijuana. Perhaps opposed Floridians looked at what’s happened in blue states like New York and California and decided they didn’t want the same for the Sunshine State.
True, Tuesday’s rout does not mean that legalization is politically done for. While it wasn’t enough for passage, a bare majority of Floridians did endorse Amendment 3. And President-elect Trump has signaled his willingness to support moves toward federal legalization, including continuing the Biden administration’s rescheduling of marijuana and supporting state-level legalization.
Still, the loss in Florida—even after the most expensive legalization effort ever—suggests the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut can be stopped. Add to that the losses in the Dakotas, including the third time that North Dakota voters have rejected legalization, and it’s clear that a large part of America is not interested in legal weed.
Politicians, including the president-elect, should take note: weed is not the runaway star you think it is. Hitch your wagon to something else.
Photo: Tina Russell for The Washington Post via Getty Images