Legal Weed Ballot Measure Falls Short of Supermajority Vote Needed in Florida

A constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana in Florida won a majority of votes Tuesday but fell short of the required 60% needed to pass. The vote snuffs out what was expected to be a rush to set up new cannabis sales operations and secure insurance coverage for merchants in the Sunshine State.

The amendment, which won about 6 million votes –56% – would have let people aged 21 and up possess about 3 ounces of marijuana, and it would have allowed businesses already growing and selling medical marijuana to sell it to them. But Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigned hard against the measure, although president-elect Donald Trump had supported it.

Opponents’ television ads in Florida argued that the amendment would have allowed smoking weed in public places, “ruining” the state’s aroma.

One of the biggest proponents of the legalization effort is John Morgan, of Orlando, head of what is known as the largest injury law firm in the country and a frequent opponent of insurance carriers in claims litigation. Trulieve Cannabis Corp. also pushed for the vote, pumping roughly $145 million into the pro-weed campaign, or 94% of all the money raised, Bloomberg news reported.

If the measure had passed, annual weed sales in Florida were predicted to climb by 60% by 2028 to $4.5 billion, according to the cannabis market intelligence firm BDSA, Bloomberg reported. Trulieve, one of the largest medical cannabis companies, which has more than $1 billion in annual sales, expected legalization to move 2.7 million Floridians into the legal weed market.

That could have escalated the need – and complications – for commercial liability, business interruption and workers’ compensation insurance coverage across the state. Another state where marijuana is legal, California, has found that some growers and companies have struggled to find insurance coverage as insurers have pulled out of the state in recent years due to wildfire and regulatory concerns, according to news reports.

The focus now shifts to efforts to reclassify marijuana use as a less serious federal offense, Reuters news service noted. Trump has also publicly supported marijuana reforms and legislations in the months leading up to the election.

ATB Capital Markets analyst Frederico Gomes said if marijuana use is reclassified as a less-serious federal crime, it could more than offset any effects of the failure to pass the amendment.