Sluggish fundraising continues for Ron DeSantis’ ‘Freedom Fund’ targeting weed, abortion amendments

Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted his Florida Freedom Fund as his vehicle to stop two constitutional amendments from becoming law.

But after a month and a half, it’s not clear how much capital the committee ultimately will have to target well-funded initiatives to legalize cannabis and to remove some state abortion prohibitions enacted during DeSantis’ tenure.

The committee has raised just north of $121,000 as of June 28, with the bulk of the activity coming in the seven days preceding that date.

Apopka’s POB Ventures, LLC donated $100,000. The company holds a Cannabis College trademark, which seems to facilitate the Sativa University at its address, a training ground for those wanting to get into the medical marijuana sector.

Real estate developer Ronald Wolf of Pennsylvania also donated $10,000 in the most recent reported week.

DeSantis’ committee has a lot of ground to make up in the next four months if it seeks to counter message these proposals.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, which is behind the abortion amendment, has raised more than $38 million with nearly $15.5 million on hand at last check, and more than $293,000 raised in the last week.

Smart & Safe Florida, the best-funded cannabis legalization amendment in American history, has raised more than $60 million, and had more than $13 million on hand as of June 21. It has been funded primarily by Trulieve and other dispensaries seeking expansion of their markets beyond the current medical marijuana setup.