(Reuters) -Shares of pot companies slid on Wednesday after a ballot measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Florida failed to get the required majority to pass, even as the firms invested millions in a campaign to tap the lucrative market.

Florida voters rejected a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults at least 21 years old and allowed them to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana. It failed to obtain the required 60% threshold at a time when the U.

More than half of Florida voters approved of Amendment 3, but it did not reach the required 60 percent threshold to pass.