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Only two months after its constitutional measure was defeated, political action committee Smart & Safe Florida is attempting to get the topic of recreational marijuana back on ballots.
The constitutional amendment, proposed for the 2026 election cycle, would allow adults 21 and older to purchase, possess and use marijuana for non-medical purposes, according to the amendment.
In November 2024, Smart & Safe Florida’s Amendment 3 raked in about 56% of the vote, falling 4% short of the 60% supermajority required in the Sunshine State to earn a spot in the state constitution.
Some students at UCF had mixed feelings about the amendment leading up to the 2024 election. While some of those feelings persist, many UCF students are supportive of legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older.
“I believe that legalized recreational marijuana is a step in the right direction,” Ann Venice Porcelli, sophomore english major, said. “It has already been recreationally legalized in several states.”
Recreational marijuana is currently legal in 24 states, according to U.S. News and World Report.
“As someone who has a Floridian Medical Marijuana Card, I have found that I feel much safer buying from my local dispensary than someone I may not know — someone who could lace my product with something I’m unaware of,” Porcelli said. “Allowing more people to have access to these safe dispensaries would make the usage of recreational marijuana much safer.”
Dispensaries, or outlets where individuals can purchase cannabis products such as edibles and joints, are bountiful in the Orlando area — Orlando Weekly outlines 34 in its cannabis directory online. In Florida, where only medical marijuana is legalized, dispensaries must adhere to state regulations.
Scarlett Cooper, senior psychology major, said she believes recreational marijuana should be legal in Florida.
“If alcohol and cigarettes are legal, and they kill people, then weed should be too,” Cooper said. “Weed doesn’t kill, and it’s naturally grown. Being able to get regulated weed that isn’t laced would be a win.”
A study done by researchers at Florida Atlantic University found that, from 2014 to 2020, 386 individuals died from marijuana usage. The most recent data available from the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics reports an annual average of 10,655 alcohol abuse-related deaths in Florida. Florida Health reports around 32,000 deaths per year in the state are related to cigarette smoking.
Cooper also said she believes the economic incentives, including more jobs for growers and sellers, would be a positive aspect of legalizing recreational marijuana in Florida.
Dominic Andrade, sophomore electrical engineering major, said he believes marijuana is not the scary thing people make it out to be.
“I think it should absolutely be made recreational,” Andrade said. “The only negative thing about legalizing recreational marijuana is that they haven’t done it sooner.”
Junior political science major Max Seltzer said although he is not the biggest fan of marijuana personally, he believes everyone should have the freedom to do what they want in their homes.
Seltzer added he believes there is some potential in 2026 to see a different result than the 2024 election cycle.
“The midterms, coming after two years of another Trump administration, could motivate more Democrats and Independents to not just vote but vote down-ballot,” Seltzer said.
According to a study done by Pew Research Center on legalizing marijuana for recreational and medical use, 64% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents say legalizing recreational marijuana has a positive effect on local economies. Fifty-eight percent believe legalizing recreational marijuana makes the criminal justice system more fair-minded.
The study found 41% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say legalizing recreational marijuana has a positive effect on local economies. Twenty-seven percent — less than half of the 58% recorded for Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents — believe legalizing recreational marijuana makes the criminal justice system more fair-minded.
Though the previous and new amendment both seek to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older, the new initiative offers answers to questions raised by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other opposition.
“Amendment 3 [Smart & Safe Florida’s first initiative] would … reduce our quality of life by allowing rampant public use of marijuana,” DeSantis wrote in a Facebook post in October 2024.
According to the new amendment, smoking and vaping will be prohibited in public, which directly responds to DeSantis’ concerns.
The phrasing of the new amendment doesn’t entirely eliminate people’s concerns. Seltzer said while he believes legalized recreational marijuana is overall a net positive, he does worry about the potential of both recreational and medical marijuana raising in price, which could affect those who rely on it for health-related reasons.
Cooper said a similar sentiment.
“A downside to legalized marijuana will be the taxes,” she said. “When it’s [recreational marijuana] legalized, it will be taxed, and nobody likes taxes.”
She also expressed concerns that the number of drivers on the road who are driving under the influence may increase.
Even with updated language, the initiative could still face headwinds. DeSantis called a special legislative session Monday that could ultimately produce changes in the process of collecting and submitting signatures for citizen-proposed initiatives.
“I think it’s tyrannical and authoritarian,” Seltzer said of the potential to make citizen-proposed initiatives more difficult. “One thing is for certain: The will of the people can’t be ignored forever.”
Porcelli said she doubts the amendment will pass if DeSantis and the legislature change the process behind citizen-proposed initiatives.
Though no official legislation has hit the floor yet, some of the ideas voiced by DeSantis at a press conference on Jan. 13 include holding separate elections for citizen-proposed initiatives and incorporating new ways to verify signatures on petitions for the initiatives. This includes making ballot initiatives have stand-alone elections and integrating new ways to verify petition signatures.
To qualify for a financial impact and judicial review, the organization must collect 222,881 signatures, according to the amendment. The statewide total needed to solidify placement on ballots is 891,523. Any changes in the petition process could affect Smart & Safe Florida’s lofty task of collecting nearly 900,000 signatures.
“The reason the vote failed isn’t because it wasn’t popular, but because it wasn’t popular enough,” Porcelli said of the November 2024 amendment. “It’s a great vision, but I’m not sure how feasible it is yet.”
”}]] Only two months after its constitutional measure was defeated, political action committee Smart & Safe Florida is attempting to get the topic of recreational marijuana back on ballots. Read More
