Here's What The Failure Of Florida’s Amendment 3 Means For Cannabis Legalization

Forbes

Voters rejected legalizing recreational marijuana in the bellwether state. Here’s what it means for federal legalization and pot’s green wave.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2024/11/05/what-the-failure-of-floridas-amendment-3--means-for-cannabis-legalization/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, what the failure of Florida's Amendment 3 means for cannabis legalization.

00:08In a major defeat for cannabis legalization, Florida voters have rejected Amendment 3,

00:14which would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older.

00:18The amendment, which failed to get the 60% voter support it needed to pass, could have

00:23been the start of a new green wave across the country.

00:27The Sunshine State is already home to the country's largest medical marijuana market,

00:31$2 billion in annual sales, but it missed the opportunity to become the first red state

00:36in the South to launch an adult-use market.

00:39Florida, which has a population of 20 million people and attracts more than 140 million

00:44tourists every year, was expected to swell to a $6 billion cannabis market by 2026 if

00:51Amendment 3 passed, according to marijuana sales data firm Headset.

00:56Voters will have to wait another two years before cannabis can get back on the ballot.

01:02The amendment received more than 57% of the vote, a strong majority, but not enough to

01:07surpass the 60% threshold required in the state of Florida.

01:11The measure even had the backing of former president and now president-elect Donald Trump.

01:17The night's biggest loser is Tallahassee-based True Leave, which spent $145 million backing

01:23Smart and Safe Florida, the organization running the Yes on 3 campaign.

01:28The campaign raised a total of $153 million, according to campaign contribution data from

01:34the Florida Department of State Division of Elections.

01:37The night's biggest winner is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who had declared war on the

01:42cannabis ballot measure and spent an estimated $50 million of taxpayer money on radio and

01:47television ads to successfully convince enough voters to vote no.

01:52Ken Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire who moved his firm Citadel to Miami from Chicago

01:56in 2022, had also come out against legalization.

02:00Griffin, a Florida resident, donated $12 million to the Vote No on 3 campaign.

02:07And in an op-ed published in the Miami Herald earlier this year, Griffin cautioned voters

02:11not to repeat the mistakes of states like California, Colorado, and New York, all of

02:15which have legalized recreational cannabis.

02:19Griffin wrote, quote,

02:34Brady Cobb, the son of one of Florida's most prolific pot smugglers of the 1980s, who started

02:39his own legal marijuana company called Sunburn Cannabis in 2021, calls the failure of Amendment

02:453 a big blow to the state's marijuana economy and the national momentum of legalization.

02:51Cobb, whose company generated $30 million in revenue this year from its 13 medical marijuana

02:57dispensaries, says, quote,

03:08Shanita Penny, the co-executive director of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education,

03:12and Regulation, says the failure of Amendment 3 will, quote,

03:20She says, quote,

03:26Emily Paxia, the co-founder of San Francisco-based cannabis hedge fund Poseidon, which has invested

03:32in many companies with a large presence in the state, says she is not downtrodden.

03:37The companies operating in the nation's $30 billion economy spread across 38 states have

03:42grown accustomed to roadblocks while operating in an industry that is still federally illegal.

03:47She says, quote,

03:54Despite the defeat of Amendment 3, Paxia believes there is hope on the horizon.

03:59A lawsuit filed by legendary litigator David Boies and other attorneys at Boies, Schiller,

04:04Flexner is still in play.

04:06The lawsuit, against Attorney General Merrick Garland on behalf of several cannabis companies

04:10in Massachusetts, is seeking to challenge the federal prohibition of marijuana and the

04:15government's ability to interfere with state-regulated cannabis programs.

04:21For full coverage, check out Will Yakowitz's piece on Forbes.com.

04:26This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:28Thanks for tuning in.

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