Jacob Ogles
Recreational marijuana backers raised more than $5 million since the Florida Supreme Court authorized a constitutional amendment for the ballot.
Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the petition effort for Amendment 3, reported almost $5.23 million in new donations in April and May, a period that coincides with the high court decision.
“We are proud to have expanded our industry support for Smart & Safe Florida,” said Morgan Hill, a spokesperson for Smart & Safe, in a statement. “With a growing number of industry partners engaged in this effort and a new Fox News poll showing a large majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents support Amendment 3, it’s clear Floridians are more ready than ever to legalize recreational adult-use marijuana.”
Florida legalized marijuana for medical use in 2016. Now many of the companies producing cannabis as medication also want it legal for use by those without a prescription.
Trulieve, Florida’s largest medical marijuana company, supported much of the ballot drive to put a new constitutional amendment up for vote. That has continued, with the Clearwater-based company donating another $5 million to the campaign on April 22.
But since it was clear the measure would go up for a vote, more donors have aided the campaign. Insa in Tallahassee donated $144,000. Green Sentry Holdings, the Fort Lauderdale-based parent company Sunburn cannabis, gave $50,000. Urban-Gro, a Colorado-based cannabis retailer, sent $25,000 to the effort.
Meanwhile, the campaign also received dozens of donations worth less than $1,000, some writing checks for just a couple of bucks.
To pass, the amendment will require 60% support from voters in the General Election in November.
The strong fundraising came as the group also spent $5.9 million over the same two-month period. Most of that was accounted for in $4.9 million in professional services with Ax Media, a media placement operation connected to Axiom Strategies.
That alone signaled the involvement of national political players in the effort to legalize responsible adult use of cannabis in the state.
