Amendment 1 Passes, While 2 & 3 Fail

BRADENTON — Floridians will not gain access to medical marijuana, nor will the state change the way it appoints certain judicial vacancies, but the state will set aside certain moneys to purchase undeveloped land and provide other environmental protections.

Amendment 1, the Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative passed by an unusually large margin, earning 75 percent yes votes, easily surpassing the 60 percent threshold. The amendment's law must dedicate 33 percent of net revenues from the existing excise tax on documents to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund.

Amendment 2, which would have allowed for marijuana to be prescribed for certain medical uses, fell just short with 58 percent of voters favoring the initiative. Supporters said that the close votes shows the will of Floridians and that if the legislature did not pass a law to address public will, they would bring the referendum back in 2016.

Amendment 3 would have allowed the outgoing governor to choose new Supreme Court justices after three retire due to age limits in 2019. The amendment had only 48 percent of the votes, 12 points short of the 60 percent needed for referendums to pass. The amendment was added to the ballot by the Republican-led Legislature and was attacked as an attempt to pack the courts.