Florida Marijuana Legalization Bid Headed To Victory
Recent Polls Indicate Strong Support for Legalizing Recreational Marijuana in Florida.
Two recent polls show that Amendment 3, the ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida, is likely to win enough votes to pass in the November general election. The surveys suggest an increase in voter support for the cannabis legalization initiative compared to earlier polls, which indicated Amendment 3 was shy of the 60% support needed to pass.
On Wednesday, the online news source Florida Politics reported that it had obtained the results of a recent poll indicating that Amendment 3 is supported by nearly two-thirds of voters. Conducted between June 26 and June 29, the poll showed that 64% of 1,065 likely voters said they would vote in favor of the recreational cannabis legalization initiative. The survey, which has a reported margin of error of 2.9%, showed universal support for legalizing pot among young voters, with 100% of respondents aged 18 to 29 saying they would vote in favor of Amendment 3.
Last month, a separate poll from Fox News also showed Florida’s marijuana legalization initiative headed to victory with a commanding 66% of voters indicating they would vote for Amendment 3. The poll showed broad support across the political spectrum, with 76% of Democrats, 71% of independent voters and 57% of Republicans saying they would vote in favor of ballot measure. Except for voters aged 65 and older, all demographic groups showed majority support for legalizing weed in Florida. The poll surveyed 1,075 Florida registered voters between June 1 and June 4 and has margin of error of 3 percentage points.
After the results of the poll were made public, Morgan Hill, spokesperson for Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the marijuana legalization campaign, noted that a majority of Americans now live in a jurisdiction that has legalized cannabis for adults.
“Floridians want and deserve the same right to consume recreational marijuana that more than half the country already enjoys,” Hill said in a press release from the campaign, according to a report from cannabis news outlet Marijuana Moment. “This poll reflects what we at Smart & Safe Florida know to be true: legalizing recreational adult-use marijuana is good for Floridians’ health, safety, and individual freedom.”
Pot Legalization Campaign Launches New Ads
Last week, Smart & Safe Florida announced that it was celebrating July as Freedom Month and kicking of a new advertising campaign to support Amendment 3. The $1.1 million radio ad campaign features attorney John Morgan, who spearheaded the state’s campaign for the legalization of medical marijuana approved by Florida voters in 2016.
“Throughout the month of July, our campaign will remind voters that freedom means individual rights and an end to arrests and incarceration for simple marijuana possession charges,” Hill said in a statement from the campaign. “We know that thousands of people are arrested every year in Florida for marijuana. When Americans across the country have the right to choose to consume marijuana, it’s a disgrace that Floridians’ individual freedoms are still restricted.”
Amendment 3 Legalizes Recreational Marijuana For Adults
If the constitutional amendment initiative succeeds at the polls in November, Florida’s Amendment 3 would legalize the possession and purchase of up to 3 ounces of marijuana and up to five grams of cannabis concentrates. The measure also allows the state’s current medical marijuana licensees to produce and sell cannabis products to adults aged 21 and up. Amendment 3 also allows state lawmakers to approve regulations for new businesses to enter the recreational marijuana market, although the initiative does not require the legislature to do so. If approved by voters, the cannabis legalization amendment will take effect six months after election day.
The recent polls show an increase in support for Amendment 3 compared to other surveys conducted earlier this year. In April, a USA Today/Ipsos poll found that 57% of voters supported the marijuana legalization measure, while a separate Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Mainstreet Research poll released that month showed only 47% of voters backed the measure. In May, a survey conducted by Cherry Communications for the Florida Chamber of Commerce found that 58% of voters supported Amendment 3, just shy of the 60% support needed for the measure to become law.
