Voters could make recreational weed legal in a majority of U.S. states

Caption

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, is displayed in a shop in Cherokee, N.C., on Nov. 2. On Election Day, legalizing the recreational use of cannabis is on the ballot in three states. / AFP via Getty Images

Voters in three states will decide on Election Day whether to legalize the recreational use of cannabis — and if more than one of the measures pass, 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. Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center reported that 88% of U.S. adults said marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use.

The three states are:

Florida

Amendment 3 would allow anyone age 21 and over to possess or buy marijuana for their own recreational use.

“Florida’s state economists project legal recreational marijuana sales could generate up to $430 million a year in local and state tax revenues, if voters approve Amendment 3 on November’s ballot,” member station WLRN reports.

“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,” the station adds.

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.

“The estimated fiscal impact of this measure includes revenues of $10,227,600, expenses of $8,324,275, and an undetermined amount of additional costs associated with behavioral health and social impacts for the 2025-2027 biennium,” according to language on the 2024 ballot.

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, in a state that voted to legalize medical marijuana in 2020. Like their neighbors to the north, this is the third time South Dakotans are being asked to decide on legal cannabis. Voters approved legalizing weed in 2020 — but the change was thrown out in court, after the measure 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.

“Counties could see incarceration expenses reduced by $581,556 every year,” according to a guidance note from the attorney general’s office.

Recent opinion polls suggest voters might balk at legalization, Jonathan Ellis of the independent news outlet The Dakota Scout, told South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

“They have 51% no versus 44% yes,” Ellis said in late October. “Those numbers have switched from an earlier poll that was done in August, September. An internal poll that I was privy to had it passing. But that is before a really hard negative campaign came out against that. So I would submit that the campaign against legalized marijuana is working for the opponents.”

Experts urge governments to align laws — and regulations

Cannabis is also on the ballot in Nebraska, where Initiative Measure 437 would remove penalties for “the use, possession, and acquisition” of up to 5 ounces of cannabis for medical purposes. It requires a written recommendation from a health care practitioner.

Widening acceptance and advocacy for marijuana as a medical or recreational drug means that a large number of Americans — and their state governments —are at odds with the federal government’s longstanding declaration that cannabis is illegal.

With more people in the U.S. reporting regular marijuana use in recent years, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said in September that federal and state governments need to fill in the gaps in policies, regulation and standardization, warning that the lack of clear and reliable information poses a risk to the public.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration proposed reclassifying marijuana, a shift that would redefine it from being a Schedule I controlled substance and instead as a Schedule III controlled substance, a category that acknowledges medical benefits. Along with its implications for potential markets and consumers, the federal move would boost research into cannabis.