Florida Had Indoor Vaping and Offshore Drilling in the Same Proposition and People Were Confused
Naturally, people had a lot of thoughts about Florida during the 2018 midterm elections, but one result stood out on a night of standout results.
With a single amendment, Florida simultaneously banned indoor vaping and offshore drilling on Tuesday night, as more than 60% of voters chose to prohibit both.
The amendment alters the state constitution to block the offshore extraction of gas and oil under the state’s waters, as well as vaping with e-cigarettes in the workplace. (More than 6.8 million votes were counted in the decision to curb vaping and conserve the Florida coastlines, according to Florida Politics)
The combination of vaping inside and drilling for oil offshore was a major flash point online.
Can Florida please explain why offshore drilling and indoor vaping we're part if the same proposition? pic.twitter.com/ITvLECE6Ox
— Anne Marie (@ayyynne) November 7, 2018
Still obsessed with offshore drilling and indoor vaping being a combo . Goodnight
— JUBILEE (@JubileeDJ) November 7, 2018
good evening from Florida where a single ballot initiative banned offshore drilling as well as indoor vaping (again: same ballot initiative, those two things) https://t.co/SiwF2fAcRN
— Mark Berman (@markberman) November 7, 2018
At least we passed no more offshore drilling and vaping indoors
— gillian!! ???? (@link__blink) November 7, 2018
Big shout out to Florida for passing amendment 9 and banning offshore drilling and vaping simultaneously. For the environmental and common good
— Andrew Dial (@DialAndrew) November 7, 2018
senator: just finished drafting this super important amendment on offshore drilling. looks good for approval
assistant: but wait! what about the ban on vaping?
senator: uhhhhh.....i don't wanna write another one. let's just attach it to this one and call it good.
???????????? #Florida pic.twitter.com/108APT8CR6— patrick prum (@prekkoy) November 7, 2018
Of course, a wide range of issues were on the table Tuesday night as voters considered a dozen initiatives. But why were these two matters addressed together on the same referendum?
The answer, according to the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, is that both bans are environmentally-minded. “The issues together send a message of clean air, clean water,” former Florida senator and author of the proposal to limit e-cigarette use Lisa Carlton told The Grist.
Meanwhile, critics of offshore drilling argue that a ban on coastal drilling would safeguard Florida’s beaches — a major draw for tourists — from oil spills and other issues.
Still, opinions were mixed on whether these two issues should have been paired in the same amendment.
“The bundling of two unrelated provisions in this amendment has drawn criticism. Nevertheless, both components are important and worthy of approval,” a Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial read. But not everyone agreed with the connection. “It makes no sense to the average voter why they were put together,” University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus told The Daytona Beach News Journal.