Medical marijuana backers raise more than $50K in April

The political committee backing the effort to legalize medical marijuana raised more than $50,000 in April, bringing its 2016 haul to more than $280,000.

State records show People United for Medical Marijuana raised $50,493 in April. The organization received more than 500 donations in the one-month fundraising period, hundreds of them donations of $50 or less.

Top donors during the one-month fundraising period: a $15,000 donation from Andrew Mack, the president at ABM OPCO, LLC., and a $5,000 donation from Altmed, LLC.

Since January, the committee has raised $289,590.

State records show the group spent $51,216 in April. That sum included $10,000 for political consulting from California-based PCI Consultants, Inc.

Supporters of Amendment 2 are hoping the 2016 amendment will fare better than a 2014 effort. In 2014, the measure received 58 percent support, just shy of the 60 percent needed to become law.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday found 80 percent of registered voters said they would vote for the medical marijuana ballot initiative. The initiative was supported by 71 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of Democrats and 84 percent of independent voters polled.

The amendment, backed by United for Care, would allow people with debilitating conditions to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.