The November 2024 presidential election is just five months away. Here’s a look at the state’s that will be voting on marijuana legalization initiatives.
New Hampshire is set to become the 25th legal marijuana state, marking the halfway point for the entire country. This November, several states will be vying to tip the scale and make legal marijuana states the majority.
With that in mind, here are the five states that are either guaranteed to vote on marijuana legalization initiatives this November or are highly likely to do so.
South Dakota
In November, South Dakota voters will decide the fate of Measure 29, an initiative by South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws that would legalize recreational marijuana.
Specifically, Measure 29 would permit individuals aged 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and cultivate up to three marijuana plants at a private residence. Additionally, it would authorize a system of licensed and regulated marijuana stores to distribute marijuana and marijuana products.
According to polling release last month, a plurality of voters in the state support legalizing marijuana, 45% to 42%.
Florida
In November, voters will decide the fate of Amendment 3, which would allow individuals aged 21 and older to possess up to three ounces of dried marijuana flower and up to five grams of marijuana concentrates. These products would be available for purchase through licensed marijuana retail outlets and medical marijuana dispensaries that choose to obtain a dual license.
A University of North Florida poll released in November found that 67% of likely voters support Amendment 3, surpassing the 60% threshold required for the measure to become law as a constitutional amendment.
As of April, the campaign supporting Amendment 3 has raised over $55 million, exceeding the funding of any previous legalization campaign. For context, proponents of California’s successful Proposition 64 raised $25 million in 2016, while those behind Ohio’s Issue 2 (approved last year) raised just $7 million.
North Dakota
A North Dakota campaign seeking to place a marijuana legalization campaign on the November ballot has already gathered over 50% of the required signatures to do so after just five weeks. They must now collect the remainder by July 8 to make this year’s ballot.
The proposed initiative would allow those 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, four grams of marijuana concentrates and 1500 milligrams of adult-use cannabinoid products (300 milligrams of this can be in the form of edible products). The initiative would also allow the personal cultivation of up to three marijuana plants, and it would allow marijuana and marijuana products to be purchased through licensed marijuana stores.
Nebraska
The nonprofit political committee Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) is currently collecting signatures for a pair of initiatives that would legalize medical marijuana and provide protections for physicians who recommend it. According to the group, they’ve collected 75% of the required signatures ahead of a July deadline to make the November ballot.
The medical marijuana legalization initiative would “enact a statute that makes penalties inapplicable under state and local law for the use, possession, and acquisition of limited quantities of cannabis for medical purposes by a qualified patient with a written recommendation from a health care practitioner, and for a caregiver to assist a qualified patient in these activities.”
The proposal would create the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to provide the necessary “registration and regulation of persons that possess, manufacture, distribute, deliver, and dispense cannabis for medical purposes.”
The second initiative would provide legal protections for doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients.
Polling released earlier this year —commissioned by the Neilan Strategy Group, and conducted by Data Targeting Inc.— found that 70% of voters in the state support legalizing medical marijuana.
Arkansas
In February Arkansans Attorney General Tim Griffin gave approval to the ballot language of an initiative submitted by Arkansans for Patient Access that would expand the state’s medical marijuana program and ease access for patients. The group immediately began collecting signatures in hopes of making this November’s ballot. To achieve that goal, they must collect 90,704 signatures by July 5.
Yesterday, the director of the initiative campaign said that the group is “confident” the initiative will make the November ballot.
The initiative would expand the state’s medical marijuana law, passed in 2016, to allow patients to grow their own marijuana at a private residence, with the limit set at seven mature plants and seven immature plants. It would also remove the retail prohibition on certain smokeable marijuana products such as pre-rolls, and it would legalize recreational marijuana, with the possession limit set at one ounce, if the federal government removes marijuana as a controlled substance.
The initiative would also:
- Allow medical marijuana assessments and renewals to be conducted via telehealth.
- Allow out-of-state patients to receive protections under the state’s medical marijuana law.
- Expand new patient cards to last three years rather than one.
- Allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners and pharmacists to recommend medical marijuana in addition to physicians.
- Allow the above list of healthcare professions to recommend medical marijuana for any condition they deem appropriate, rather than having to follow the current list of qualifying conditions.
