Cannabis advocates’ hopes of expanding legal marijuana sales were dashed Tuesday, with voters rejecting a recreational marijuana measure in Florida and appearing on the verge to do so in North Dakota and South Dakota.
Voters approved a medical marijuana legalization measure in Nebraska, although the measure is threatened by a lawsuit.
Florida’s recreational marijuana legalization measure won a majority but failed to reach the 60% threshold needed to pass. It’s a crushing defeat for cannabis companies — particularly Florida-based Trulieve — that spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the legalization campaign.
The Associated Press had not called the Midwestern ballot measures as of Wednesday morning, but South Dakota voters appeared poised to reject recreational marijuana for the second time and North Dakota voters to do so for the third time.
Opponents of marijuana legalization cheered the defeat of the weed measures, starting with the proposed amendment to the Florida constitution.
“[The Florida result] is clearly one of Big Marijuana’s biggest defeats yet,” said Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, in a statement. “Floridians have dealt a remarkable blow to one of the largest commercial marijuana companies in the U.S. and others in the addiction industry.”
Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C., currently let adults over 21 possess and use small amounts of marijuana. An additional 15 states let people possess and use marijuana for medical reasons.
Most states that have yet to fully legalize lean conservative. Tuesday’s results show that voters in red states, while open to letting people use marijuana for medical reasons, are leery of allowing adults over 21 to possess, use and buy weed.
Florida’s marijuana legalization measure was the most expensive ballot measure in the nation this year and the most expensive marijuana measure ever, according to Ballotpedia, an online election encyclopedia.
Supporters raised over $153.2 million, Ballotpedia reported, with Trulieve contributing some 94% of the cash. Opposition campaigns raised $33.4 million.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was a fierce critic of the proposed constitutional amendment and created a political action committee to oppose it.
Cannabis companies have a strong incentive to keep pushing for legal weed in Florida. Industry analysts estimate that a recreational marijuana market there could become the largest in the country, thanks to the state’s large population and tourist-heavy economy.
Smart & Safe Florida, the political action committee behind the legalization measure this year, indicated in a statement posted to X on Tuesday that it would try to work with Florida lawmakers to expand access to cannabis.
“We are eager to work with the governor and legislative leaders who agree with us on decriminalizing recreational marijuana for adults, addressing public consumption, continuing our focus on child safety, and expanding access to safe marijuana through home grow,” the committee said.