In November 2024, Florida voters nearly made history: Amendment 3—a citizen‑initiated constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older—garnered approximately 56% approval, just missing the 60% supermajority needed to. That level of support reflected changing public attitudes toward cannabis, with polls showing support ranging from 58% to 64% across multiple surveys.

Boasting over $150 million in campaign spending, largely funded by Trulieve and other medical marijuana firms, the effort was the most expensive ballot initiative in U.S. history to that point. Despite this, strong opposition from Governor Ron DeSantis and the GOP-led Legislature, along with concerns around public use, advertising to minors, and insufficient regulatory clarity, swayed enough voters to keep the amendment short of passage.

Following this near‑miss, the Smart & Safe Florida committee wasted little time recalibrating. Early in 2025, they launched a revamped version of Amendment 3 geared toward the 2026 ballot, with more precise rules aimed at addressing voter concerns:

• Clear prohibitions on public smoking, countering critiques about societal impact.
• A ban on cannabis advertising to minors, responding to health and youth-usage fears.
• Decoupling the requirement for vertically integrated operations, permitting separate licenses for cultivation, processing, and retail—intended to foster a competitive, open market.

Still, the campaign now faces newly imposed legal hurdles. In May 2025, Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed a sweeping bill (HB 1205), tightening the petition signature process—such as shortening filing windows from 30 to 10 days, capping how many signatures a volunteer can collect, and requiring personal identifying information from signers. Supporters say these measures protect against fraud; opponents argue they aim to suppress grassroots amendment efforts.

Smart & Safe Florida is now legally challenging those provisions, calling them “draconian restrictions” that violate citizens’ First Amendment rights. A federal judge recently heard arguments and signaled concern over the law’s fairness, but no ruling has been made yet .

Meanwhile, significant funding continues to power the campaign: in early 2025, Trulieve reportedly injected $19.6 million more into efforts for the next ballot iteration. As of June, Smart & Safe Florida has validated roughly 219,000 signatures—still short of the nearly 892,000 needed to qualify for the 2026 ballot.

The stakes remain high. If the amendment once again reaches the ballot and achieves the elusive 60% threshold, Florida would become the largest Southern state to legalize recreational cannabis. Advocates emphasize potential benefits, including economic growth, tax revenue, job creation, and criminal justice reform. Opponents, however, continue to raise concerns over public health, youth exposure, and the influence of large cannabis corporations.

As 2025 progresses, Florida’s push for recreational cannabis remains a dynamic convergence of public support, political resistance, legal challenges, and evolving policy design. Whether the state can cross the 60% finish line in 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched campaigns in American cannabis reform history.