Florida, Dakotas rejects marijuana legalization measure, Massachussetts rejects psychedelic reform

On Nov. 5, voters in four red states will cast their ballots for legalizing cannabis and marijuana, the extracts from the plant. Meanwhile, Massachusetts voters will decide whether it will become the third state to legalize psychedelics.

In the 2023 UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey, 61% of voters said they support the therapeutic use of psychedelics under regulation. Similarly, the vast majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, with 88% of respondents in a 2024 Pew Research Poll saying they supported legalization that permitted its medical and/or recreational use. Of 24 states that have legalized recreational marijuana, just four of them voted Republican in the last presidential election, although support is increasingly bipartisan, especially among young people. 

In fact, this presidential election, Donald Trump expressed support for decriminalizing marijuana in certain circumstances, and Kamala Harris promised to federally legalize it. This support coming from both sides led some to declare marijuana legalization a newly bipartisan issue. 

Here are the ballot initiatives involving marijuana and psychedelic legalization this Election Day:

Massachusetts: Question 4

Results: FAIL 43% YES / 57% NO

On the Massachusetts ballot, voting yes in Question 4 would allow adults to use limited quantities of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline, ibogaine, psilocybin (the ingredient in "magic" mushrooms), and psilocin at home. It also creates a “natural psychedelic substances commission" to oversee the licensing of psychedelic therapy centers where people can go to take psychedelics under the supervision of licensed facilitators. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has backed the measure, and advocates supporting it argue the initiative could increase access to substances that have shown promising results in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Opponents, on the other hand, argue that the amount of home growth permitted — up to 144 square feet — is excessive and could create a gray market. 

"To put that perspective, 144 square feet is the average size of the bedroom here in Massachusetts, and you can grow an astronomical amount of psilocybin in a room that big," said Chris Keohan, a spokesperson for the Coalition for Safe Communities, which is against the measure.

Psilocybin, which has been at the center of a resurgence of medical research into psychedelic therapies, has been legalized in Oregon and Colorado in recent years, although like cannabis it remains illegal at the federal level. Unlike the marijuana industry, the psychedelic market is smaller and costs more for people to access, with sessions at treatment centers in Oregon running thousands of dollars. Oregon restricts use to treatment centers, while Colorado also allows for home cultivation, similar to the proposed measure in Massachusetts. 

"We're not creating a retail model here that is at all comparable to cannabis legalization," said Taylor West, the executive director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, a non-profit that helps programs in states where psilocybin has been legalized. 

Florida: Amendment 3

Results: FAIL — 55.7% YES / 44.3% NO

Cannabis legalization advocates have their eye on Florida’s Amendment 3, which puts forth a constitutional amendment to possess and purchase adult-use cannabis in the state, where medical marijuana is already legal. At the federal level, marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule I drug and carries the same criminal penalties as heroin. 

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During the presidential race, Trump, who is a resident of Florida, expressed his support for Amendment 3 along with President Joe Biden's efforts to downgrade marijuana to a Schedule III drug. However, throughout the election cycle, Gov. Ron DeSantis vehemently opposed the measure, even trying to get it removed from the ballot.

Eyes are on Florida this year because it has such a large population and tends to be a trendsetter for Southern states, said Daniel Mallinson, a public-policy professor at Penn State Harrisburg. 

“We do see recreational very much following in the footsteps of medical,” Mallinson told Salon in a phone interview. “It’s certainly not crazy to think you might see some other very conservative Southern states follow along, if Florida adopts it.”

North Dakota: Measure 5

Results: FAIL 47.5% YES / 52.6% NO

In North Dakota, advocates are hoping the third time's a charm in legalizing recreational marijuana after similar ballot measures failed in 2018 and 2022. This year, if passed, Measure 5 will allow for the adult production, sale, possession and use of cannabis.

The state legalized medical marijuana in 2016, and surrounding states — namely, Montana and Minnesota — recently voted to legalize adult-use cannabis. In polls leading up to the election, 45% of voters said they supported the measure and 40% did not, while the remaining 15% were undecided, leaving the race neck-and-neck.

South Dakota: Initiated Measure 29

Results: FAIL 44.2% YES / 55.8% NO

South Dakota will also vote this year for the third time to legalize adult-use cannabis, but its voting record with legalization hasn’t been as straightforward as its northern sibling. In 2020, South Dakota voted to approve medical and adult-use cannabis at the same time in a historic vote, but the measure was ultimately challenged by the state’s highway patrol and tossed out by the Supreme Court. 

If passed, Initiated Measure 29 would allow for each household to have up to 12 marijuana plants with restricted home cultivation permissions in addition to legalizing the possession and distribution of cannabis. 

Nebraska: Initiative Measures 437 and 438

Results: Initiative 437 PASS 70.7% YES / 29.3% NO

Initiative 438 PASS 67% YES / 33.1% NO

Prior to this election, Nebraska was one of just 12 states that had not legalized medical marijuana. In 2020, an initiative to legalize medical marijuana won enough signatures to make it on the ballot but was removed by the state Supreme Court, A similar movement in 2022 didn’t get enough signatures to be put up for a vote. With Initiative Measures 437 and 438 this year, Nebraska voters will decide if the state will join the other 38 states in legalizing medical marijuana.

Two separate measures related to legalizing medical marijuana are on the ballot: A majority of votes in favor of Initiative Measure 437 would legalize medical marijuana possession up to five ounces and a majority of ballots cast for Initiative Measure 438 would regulate medical marijuana through the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission.