Support for Florida Cannabis Legalization Measure Eclipses $100 Million

Cannabis reform supporters have now contributed more than $101 million toward an adult-use ballot measure in Florida, marking the most well-funded legalization measure in U.S. history.

Smart & Safe Florida, the group sponsoring the state’s constitutional ballot measure, Amendment 3, surpassed the nine-figure threshold on Sept. 13, when Tallahassee-based medical cannabis operator Trulieve donated another $5 million to the campaign, according to the Florida Division of Elections.

Trulieve has contributed $92.7 million since the adult-use legalization effort began in late 2022, representing the primary financial muscle behind the measure that the state’s Supreme Court approved earlier this year to go before voters on Nov. 5.

Other main contributors to the pro-legalization campaign include fellow Florida medical cannabis operators Verano ($3.5 million), Curaleaf ($3 million), Ayr Wellness ($510,000), Green Thumb Industries ($500,000), Cresco Labs ($403,236) and INSA ($244,000).

This money represents a record for the most expensive adult-use cannabis legalization campaign in the U.S., surpassing California’s $25 million raised to support the Proposition 64 initiative that voters passed with a 57% majority in 2016, Ohio’s $20 million raised to support the Issue 3 initiative that voters defeated with 64% opposed in 2015, and many others, according to digital election encyclopedia source Ballotpedia.

The $101 million contributed to Smart & Safe Florida also casts a shadow on oppositional funding for the two main anti-legalization committees trying to stop Amendment 3 from gaining the 60% supermajority support required for passage in the Sunshine State.

The Keep Florida Clean Inc. political action committee has raised $13.2 million to defeat Amendment 3, according to the Division of Elections. And The Florida Freedom Fund has raised $5 million to defeat both Amendment 3 and Amendment 4—the latter being a constitutional measure to “limit government interference with abortion.”

These two oppositional PACs are chaired by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff, James Uthmeier.

RELATED: Who Has More Money: Florida’s Pro- or Anti-Cannabis Legalization Campaigns?

DeSantis, an outspoken cannabis legalization opponent who has repeatedly complained about the plant’s smell, doesn’t appear to have changed his stance in the wake of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s Sept. 8 remarks on social media that he plans to vote in support of Amendment 3 this November in Florida.

The Florida governor has continued to call Amendment 3 a ploy by the state’s medical cannabis companies to create a “monopoly,” despite the amendment’s broad language that heavily puts the onus on the state’s Legislature to pass regulations to implement an adult-use cannabis program should voters pass the measure in November.

While Florida’s existing medical operators could remain vertically integrated while expanding to a forthcoming adult-use market under the amendment, the Florida Legislature would hold the power to determine a process for licensing additional market entrants.

However, as Smart & Safe Florida is outraising its two main oppositional committees by a ratio of more than 5 to 1, DeSantis recently began chastising Republican lawmakers for not doing enough to oppose the legalization initiative, Politico reported.

“You say you’re all about these issues, and then when it’s time to do something about it you’re nowhere to be found,” DeSantis said during a recent discussion at a Tallahassee church, the news outlet reported. “That is what courageous leadership is all about.”

Notable Florida Republicans who publicly oppose Amendment 3 include U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, state Sen. Ben Albritton and state Rep. Daniel Anthony Perez.

However, state Sen. Joe Gruters, the former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, supports Amendment 3. Gruters appeared in a Safe & Smart Florida TV ad alongside Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones earlier this month.

“I’m a Republican,” Gruters said in the ad.

“And I’m a Democrat,” Shevrin said.

“I’ll be voting for President Trump,” Gruters said.

“And I’m backing Vice President Kamala Harris,” Shevrin said.

“We don’t agree on much,” Gruters said.

“Hardly anything,” Shevrin said.

“But we do agree on this,” Gruters said.

“Amendment 3 is good for Florida,” Shevrin said.

“That’s right,” Gruters said. “It legalized marijuana for adult use, giving freedom to Floridians.”

Through regulation and testing, an adult-use cannabis market not only will provide safe products for consumers but also funding for police and schools, the bipartisan senate duo said.

That TV advertisement—one of the most powerful means of drawing support or opposition for the citizen-initiated amendment—is just one of many that are funded through the $101 million-plus in campaign contributions so far.

Should voters reach the 60% supermajority support needed in November, Florida will be the 25th state in the nation to legalize adult-use cannabis.