This November, voters in Florida rejected Amendment 3, the ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana in the Sunshine State. This is especially notable, given that the pro-legalization campaign received more than $153 million in contributions. This represented the most expensive marijuana-related ballot measure in history.
The campaign in support of Amendment 3, misleadingly named Smart & Safe Florida, was carried by donations from the marijuana industry. Trulieve, a medical marijuana company, donated more than $144 million of the total $153 million.
The opposition campaigns, which SAM worked with, were outspent nearly 5 to 1 in Florida. Despite this, those on the side of public health and safety still emerged victorious.
To put the industry’s unprecedented investment into perspective, it is helpful to compare it to prior campaigns. According to Ballotpedia, the next 9 most expensive pro-legalization campaigns were:
California (2016): $25.1 million
Ohio (2015): $20.1 million
Arkansas (2022): $14.1 million
Arizona (2016): $12.9 million
Massachusetts (2016): $9.9 million
Oregon (2014): $9.4 million
Missouri (2022): $8.8 million
Nevada (2016): $8.1 million
Montana (2020): $7.8 million
The pro-legalization campaign in Florida received more contributions than the next 9 most expensive campaigns combined.
Florida’s rejection of marijuana is the latest in a string of defeats for the industry. Since 2022, marijuana has been rejected at the ballot box 7 times in 5 different states. This shows that drugs are not the winning issue many politicians have been tricked into believing. As marijuana has become legalized, commercialized and normalized, its effects are hard to miss and people have gotten a sense of what a massive increase in drug use looks like.
Click here to read SAM CEO Kevin Sabet’s analysis: why drugs are the biggest loser of the 2024 election.
