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Florida recreational cannabis legalization opponents get $12 million donation
Doomed
August 6, 2024

The billionaire owner and CEO of a Miami-based hedge fund donated $12 million to opponents of a recreational cannabis legalization ballot measure that Floridians will vote on in the November election.

Ken Griffin, who owns 80% of Citadel, announced the donation in an opinion piece published Friday in the Miami Herald.

‘Would create a monopoly’
Griffin called Amendment 3, as the adult-use legalization measure is known, “a terrible plan to create the nation’s most expansive and destructive marijuana laws.”

“Passage of Amendment 3 would create a monopoly for large marijuana dispensaries and permit pot use in public and private areas throughout Florida,” Griffin alleged in his op-ed.

“That will help no one other than special interests – and it will hurt us all, especially through more dangerous roads, a higher risk of addiction among our youth, and an increase in crime.”

The contribution from Griffin – who has donated more than $10 million to support Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election bids, the Tampa Bay Times reported – went to a newly formed political committee, Keep Florida Clean, and its public-facing entity, Vote No on 3.

Through June 28, three Amendment 3 opponents – Vote No on 3, Floridians Against Recreational Marijuana and the Florida Freedom Fund – had raised only $125,200, according to data from Ballotpedia. The Florida Freedom Fund was created by DeSantis.

By contrast, the group behind Amendment 3, Smart & Safe Florida, has raised more than $66 million.

That total includes about $60 million in contributions from major multistate operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp., the biggest medical marijuana company in Florida.