Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
“Drug-Free Florida” received a financial boost from a former ambassador in August.
Campaign finance records show the group received $25,000 from Al Hoffman between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2. The contribution was the only one “Drug-Free Florida” reported receiving during the one-week reporting period.
Hoffman, the former chair of the WCI Communities and a past ambassador to Portugal, was among the top backers of the opposition campaign in 2014, giving it $25,000 in June of that year.
“Drug-Free Florida” ran a successful campaign against the 2014 medical marijuana ballot initiative, and has been ramping up its efforts ahead of the 2016 election.
The committee spent $11,469 in the one-week period. It ended the fundraising period with $1.5 million cash-on-hand.
The opposition campaign out-raised the group backing the 2016 ballot initiative. Records show “People United for Medical Marijuana” raised $23,067 during the fundraising period. While many of those donations were small, the organization received a $10,000 from Enrique Yanes, owner of Pure Beauty Farms in Miami.
The 2014 amendment received 58 percent of the vote, just shy of the 60 percent needed to become law.
Recent polling indicates there is strong support for the 2016 ballot initiative. A Public Policy Polling survey released last week showed 70 percent of likely Florida voters said they supported the 2016 amendment.
The 2016 ballot initiative allows people with debilitating medical conditions, as determined by a licensed Florida physician, to use medical marijuana. The amendment defines debilitating conditions as cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other things.
