Florida’s marijuana amendment failed despite a majority. That’s why

After months of legal battles, campaigns and the entire judicial press is against this from Gov. Ron DeSantisthe recreational marijuana amendment appears to have failed. Recreational grass remains illegal in Florida.

But according to unofficial results as of 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, she received 55.9% of the vote. Why wasn’t it good enough?

Florida adds higher threshold for approval of amendments

Most states require a simple majority vote to pass ballot measures.

Florida did the same thing until 2006 constitutional amendment passedby changing the voter approval threshold to 60%. Ironically, this only took place with 57.78% votesone of the last amendments to ever do so in the state.

Supporters argued that well-funded special interest groups were pushing changes to the Florida constitution to protect their interests. Critics have said the initiative voting process is needed as a vital check on government, especially if gerrymandering creates unelectable lawmakers.

So now, even if a majority passes a constitutional amendment, the amendment must receive 60% or more of the votes for the amendment to be approved. It could have been tougher.

Last year, bill put forward Rep. Rick Roth, a West Palm Beach Republican, would make the amendments even more difficult to pass by changing them to a two-thirds majority, “66.67%.” A similar billSen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, would do the same, but would also allow voters to repeal previous amendments with the same percentage of votes required when the amendments were first passed, making it harder to pass new ones and easier to pass new ones. get rid of the old ones.

Both bills died in committee.

Is marijuana legal in Florida?

Yesbut only for some people.

Medical marijuana is legal in Florida for state residents diagnosed with a specific set of medical conditions who apply for and receive Medical marijuana ID card or guardians who have received Medical Marijuana Caregiver Card.

Currently, the qualifying conditions for medical marijuana are:

Cancer
Epilepsy
Glaucoma
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
Crohn’s disease
Parkinson’s disease
Multiple sclerosis
Comparable medical conditions or status to those above
Terminal state
Chronic non-malignant pain

Without a medical marijuana card or medical marijuana card, if you are caught with marijuana, you could face fines and imprisonment under Florida law.

The amendment would make recreational marijuana legal for adults over 21, with some restrictions.