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Florida Cannabis Imprisonment Initiative (2016)

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Florida
Cannabis Imprisonment Initiative
Flag of Florida.png
TypeAmendment
OriginCitizens
TopicMarijuana
StatusNot on ballot

Not on Ballot
Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot
This measure was not put
on an election ballot

Voting on Marijuana
Marijuana Leaf-smaller.gif
Ballot Measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot

The Cannabis Imprisonment Initiative (#15-24) was an initiated constitutional amendment that did not make the Florida ballot on November 8, 2016.

The measure would have decriminalized marijuana. People 21 years of age or older would have been able to use, possess, sell and cultivate marijuana, without being imprisoned. [1]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:[1]

Imprisonment for possession, use, cultivation, or sale of cannabis.[2]

Ballot summary

The ballot summary was as follows:[1]

No woman or man (twenty-one years of age) shall be imprisoned for possession, use, cultivation, or sale of cannabis.[2]

Full text

The full text was as follows:[1]

(a) No woman or man in the State of Florida twenty-one years of age or older shall be imprisoned under previous state laws for possession, use, sale, or cultivation of cannabis. "Cannabis" in this section is defined as all parts of any plan of the genus Cannabis whether growing or not, and the seeds thereof.

(b) This revisions shall create amnesty for those matters occurring prior the application of this revision that did not involve violence by a woman or man.[2]

Supporters

Florida's Committed led the support for the initiative.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Florida
  • Supporters needed to collect a minimum of 683,149 valid signatures by February 1, 2016, in order to qualify the measure for the November 2016 ballot.
  • By February 1, 2016, petitioners had not submitted any valid signatures, according to the secretary of state.[1]
  • Supporters did not collect enough signatures by the deadline to reach the ballot.

State profile

Demographic data for Florida
 FloridaU.S.
Total population:20,244,914316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):53,6253,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:76%73.6%
Black/African American:16.1%12.6%
Asian:2.6%5.1%
Native American:0.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:2.4%3%
Hispanic/Latino:23.7%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:86.9%86.7%
College graduation rate:27.3%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$47,507$53,889
Persons below poverty level:19.8%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Florida.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Florida

Florida voted Republican in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Florida, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.[3]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Florida had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respsectively.

More Florida coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Florida Department of State, "Constitutional Amendment Petition Form," accessed January 22, 2016
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.