It might seem at odds with Florida's hard-partying reputation that uptight states like Virginia and Missouri legalized recreational pot before it did. After all, Florida is a place where sea turtles get entangled in floating bales of cocaine and the Legislature recently named a highway after Jimmy Buffett. Yet Florida Man still can't get high for fun—at least not legally.
The reason the Sunshine State is one of the last major holdouts for cannabis prohibition is because it is also one of the toughest states to pass a constitutional amendment. Amendments require a 60 percent supermajority vote to be ratified. It's the highest bar in the country among states with a ballot initiative process, and it has proven fatal to previous legalization campaigns. The first time marijuana legalization was on the Florida ballot, in 2014, it failed even though 57 percent voted for it.
