Florida Amendment 9, approved by nearly 69% of voters in November 2018, added two unrelated provisions to the Florida Constitution: a ban on oil and gas drilling in state-owned waters off Florida’s coast, and a ban on vaping in most enclosed indoor workplaces. Both took effect on January 8, 2019.
The Offshore Drilling Ban
The drilling provision was added to Article II, Section 7 of the Florida Constitution. It prohibits drilling for the exploration or extraction of oil or natural gas on all state-owned submerged lands between the mean high water line and the outer boundary of Florida’s territorial seas. The provision is self-executing, so it became enforceable the moment it entered the constitution without any further legislation needed.1FindLaw. Florida Constitution Art II, Section 7 – Natural Resources and Scenic Beauty
The reach of the ban is different on each coast. On the Atlantic side, Florida’s state waters extend about three nautical miles from shore. On the Gulf side, state jurisdiction reaches roughly three marine leagues, or about nine nautical miles, which works out to around 10 statute miles offshore.2U.S. Office of Coast Survey. U.S. Maritime Limits and Boundaries The wider Gulf boundary comes from the Submerged Lands Act of 1953, which recognized historic boundaries for Texas and Florida’s west coast that reach past the standard three-nautical-mile line other states received.3Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Federal Offshore Lands
Transporting oil or gas produced elsewhere through Florida’s state waters is not prohibited. A tanker can still pass through carrying petroleum from another region. And because the rule sits in the constitution rather than ordinary law, the legislature cannot repeal it by vote. Changing or removing the ban would require another constitutional amendment approved by at least 60% of voters statewide.
What the Drilling Ban Does Not Cover
Amendment 9 only reaches state waters. Beyond that line, the seafloor becomes federal territory — the Outer Continental Shelf — and drilling policy there is set by Congress and the executive branch through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.3Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Federal Offshore Lands A map of the Florida coastline is not uniformly protected by the amendment; federal waters start where state waters end, and nothing in Amendment 9 governs what happens there.
The Indoor Vaping Ban
The second provision amended Article X, Section 20 of the Florida Constitution, which already banned tobacco smoking in enclosed indoor workplaces under a 2002 voter-approved measure. Amendment 9 extended that prohibition to “vapor-generating electronic devices,” defined broadly to include any product that creates a vapor or aerosol from nicotine or any other substance. E-cigarettes, electronic cigars, vape pens, and similar devices all fall within the definition.4Florida Department of State. Proposed Constitutional Amendments and Revisions for the 2018 General Election
The ban covers essentially any indoor space where people work, as long as the space is mostly enclosed by walls, windows, doors, or similar physical barriers. It applies whether or not anyone happens to be working at a given moment. Property owners, employers, and local governments remain free to adopt stricter rules than the constitutional floor, including bans in outdoor areas or in spaces that would otherwise be exempt.
Exemptions to the Vaping Restriction
Several categories of indoor space are exempt from the ban. They track the original tobacco exemptions, now expanded to vaping:
- Private residences, unless the home is being used commercially to provide childcare, adult care, or health care services.
- Retail tobacco shops and retail vape shops whose primary business is selling tobacco products or vapor-generating electronic devices.
- Designated smoking rooms in hotels and similar lodging establishments.
- Stand-alone bars that meet the constitutional definition.
The stand-alone bar exemption is narrower than it sounds. A bar inside a restaurant does not qualify. The establishment has to derive its revenue primarily from beverage sales and not serve prepared food.
When It Took Effect and How It’s Enforced
Both provisions entered the Florida Constitution on January 8, 2019, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January following the November 2018 election. The drilling ban was enforceable on that date because it was written as self-executing.1FindLaw. Florida Constitution Art II, Section 7 – Natural Resources and Scenic Beauty The vaping provision became constitutional law on the same day but directed the legislature to pass implementing legislation no later than July 1 of the following year.4Florida Department of State. Proposed Constitutional Amendments and Revisions for the 2018 General Election
The legislature updated Florida Statutes Chapter 386, which governs indoor air quality. The implementing law requires proprietors and other people in charge of enclosed indoor workplaces to develop and post policies on the smoking and vaping prohibitions.5Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Section 386.206 Enforcement mechanisms and penalties for violations run through that statutory framework rather than the constitutional text.
Why Two Unrelated Issues Shared One Ballot
Amendment 9 was placed on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission, which meets every 20 years to propose changes to the Florida Constitution. The commission combined the drilling and vaping measures into a single yes-or-no question, a practice known as bundling. A voter who favored one but not the other had no way to split the vote.
After the 2018 election, the Florida Legislature advanced proposals to prohibit future bundling of unrelated subjects in CRC-proposed amendments, and the single-subject requirement for constitutional amendments is now part of Florida law.