Three more states are voting today on whether to legalize the recreational use of cannabis — and if more than one of the measures passes, it would mean a majority of U.S. states have recreational marijuana laws on the books.
The measures are up for a vote more than a decade after a Pew poll found that for the first time, a majority of Americans supported legalizing marijuana use. Ohio became the 24th state to legalize recreational marijuana last year; even more states have approved medical marijuana.
The three states with ballots on the line Tuesday are:
Florida
Amendment 3 would allow anyone age 21 and over to possess or buy marijuana for their own recreational use.
“Based on recent polling, a bipartisan majority of Florida voters support Amendment 3, but it's unclear if it will reach the 60% threshold needed for approval,” member station WLRN reports.
North Dakota
Initiated Statutory Measure No. 5 “would allow for the production, processing, and sale of cannabis and the possession and use of various forms of cannabis by individuals who are 21 years of age and older.” The state law would overrule any local ordinances.
Medical marijuana is legal in North Dakota, but voters have twice rejected recreational cannabis (in 2018 and 2022).
South Dakota
Initiated Measure 29 would allow people over 21 to use cannabis recreationally. Voters had approved legalizing recreational weed in 2020 -- but the ballot measure was thrown out in court after it was found to violate the state’s single-subject requirement.
This time around, the measure doesn’t include language about the sale and regulation of marijuana and other issues that were in the earlier amendment.
But recent opinion polls suggest voters might balk at legalization, Jonathan Ellis of the independent news outlet The Dakota Scout, told South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
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