Florida voters will decide in November whether to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults. But what happens next if this bill passes?
The state Supreme Court on Monday approved the ballot language for the constitutional amendment. If at least 60% of voters approve the measure, it is expected to create a multibillion-dollar industry and open the marijuana market to more than just consumers who have been referred by a doctor, as currently required by law. It turns out.
If passed, Florida would join 24 states that have legalized recreational marijuana.
Here, we answer six important questions about the Third Amendment.
If this amendment passes, will it smell like weed everywhere?
Florida officials say one of their main concerns about the ballot initiative now before voters is the pervasive odor of marijuana.
“This is going to become part of your community,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said recently. “I’ve been to some of the cities where this is all over the place. It stinks.”
The degree of marijuana odor is a real issue in where Floridians are allowed to smoke. Will recreational marijuana actually become “ubiquitous” if legalized in November?
Supporters of the amendment argue that the Florida Legislature could create smoke-free zones, similar to tobacco. For example, in 2022, lawmakers passed a bill allowing local communities to ban smoking and vaping on beaches in the state. Such measures followed a 2002 state constitutional amendment approved by voters that prohibited smoking in most enclosed indoor work spaces.
“The Florida Constitution and proposed amendments expressly authorize the Florida Legislature to enact regulations regarding the time, place, and manner of cannabis use in public places,” said the group sponsoring the ballot initiative, Smart & A Safe Florida spokesperson said in a statement.
Part of the amendment states that there is nothing to prevent Congress from passing legislation consistent with the amendment.
Marijuana will remain illegal at the national level, so smoking will continue to be prohibited on federal property and on federally funded college campuses.
But DeSantis said he interprets the amendment to mean Congress can’t regulate personal recreational use of marijuana at all.
The proposal would allow marijuana use by persons 21 years of age or older, but it would “not subject individuals to criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida law,” the amendment states. For personal use, she is allowed to carry up to 3 ounces.
Will the number of cannabis users increase?
Yes, that’s very likely. A 2021 study looked at marijuana consumption patterns in states where medical marijuana was legal and then added recreational marijuana.researcher found to be more likely to use cannabis Increased among whites and Hispanics 21 and older in the last month In states that have legalized recreational use.
But black residents didn’t feel like they were more likely to take advantage of it, according to researchers who analyzed data from a national survey of more than 838,000 people. There was also no increase among the 12- to 20-year-old age group, where recreational use is still prohibited.
A 2022 study of identical twins found that people who live in states where recreational marijuana is legal use it 20% more often than those who live in states where it remains illegal.
Is there a possibility that car accidents will increase?
probably. Researchers still don’t have a definitive answer on whether legalizing recreational marijuana causes an increase in traffic injuries.
A 2017 study found that three years after Washington state and Colorado legalized marijuana in 2012, fatal crash rates were not statistically different from similar states without recreational marijuana. However, in a large study in 2019, the same researchers found that fatal accident rates increased significantly in Washington state and Colorado after commercial pharmacies opened in 2014.
Experts from the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found in a 2022 study that Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and California saw an increase in injury crash rates after legalization and the start of marijuana sales, but Nevada’s revealed that it had decreased. However, only Colorado and Oregon recorded increases in fatal crash rates, with increases of 1.4% and 3.8%, respectively. The other three states saw slight declines.
Charles Farmer, one of the study’s authors and the institute’s deputy director for research, said scientists have found that the effects of marijuana can make it harder for drivers to judge following distances and cause them to slow down. They say they also know. But blood levels of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that causes impairment, cannot yet be measured, he said.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says driving while impaired by drugs is illegal, but unlike alcohol, “marijuana has no special impairment limitations.”
Some states, including Colorado, have launched public campaigns warning drivers not to get behind the wheel while high, Farmer said.
“I don’t know if it worked or not,” he said.
Why has marijuana policy been left to voters?
Congress has historically been hostile to legal marijuana. Even after voters approved medical marijuana expansion through a 2016 constitutional ballot initiative, it took more than two years for lawmakers to pass a bill allowing smokable medical marijuana. Since then, lawmakers have considered numerous bills to limit the potency of marijuana, but Congress has never seriously considered passing a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana.
The DeSantis administration has also been slow to award awards. The company has a medical marijuana license, which is required by law.
To date, there are approximately 878,000 patients, 25 licensed treatment centers and more than 600 clinics. A further 22 licenses are reportedly expected to be awarded this year.
If voters approve the amendment, where can I buy recreational marijuana?
State medical cannabis licenses are given to companies that need to handle every part of the cannabis supply chain, from seed to sales. This is an expensive but highly lucrative proposition for those companies lucky enough to get a piece of the action. Some of the Florida licenses were sold to other companies for tens of millions of dollars.
The voter initiative, funded almost entirely by Trulieve, Florida’s largest medical marijuana company, would give licensed medical marijuana companies exclusive rights to sell recreational marijuana, at least initially. Presumably, existing medical marijuana dispensaries will begin to sell out.
Florida’s combined medical and recreational cannabis industry has an estimated annual revenue of $8 billion to $10 billion, said Nick Easley, CEO and founder of 3C, a national and international cannabis consulting firm in Denver. said.
“This is just a way to make a lot of money for a few people,” said state Rep. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican who opposes the voting plan.
Can Congress change the way markets work?
Other states, such as Colorado, do not force marijuana companies to grow, process, manufacture, or sell cannabis the way Florida does. If voters approve the recreational marijuana bill, Congress could always tweak the law and open up the market to small businesses.
But Fine, who is running for state Senate this November, said he doesn’t expect the Legislature to take up sweeping regulatory changes that would affect the structure of the marijuana market. Instead, he expects his colleagues to focus on safety concerns related to legalized recreational pot.
In the world of recreational cannabis, the major medical cannabis companies are likely “It’s going to continue to dominate the market,” said Easley, the cannabis industry consultant.
