Hedge Fund Billionaire Donates $12 Million To Defeat Florida Marijuana Legalization Measure, Calling It ‘A Terrible Plan’

A hedge fund billionaire announced on Friday that he’s spending $20 million “in support of candidates and to oppose Amendment 3” a Florida marijuana legalization proposal set to go before voters in November. Of that, a $12 million donation will go directly to the Vote No on 3 campaign.

Ken Griffin, CEO of the financial firm Citadel LLC, called the legalization initiative “a terrible plan to create the nation’s most expansive and destructive marijuana laws.”

“These investments reflect my commitment to the policies and principles that have made Florida so successful—equal opportunity, high-quality education, efficient and effective government and safe and strong communities,” Griffin wrote in a Miami Herald op-ed.

The Miami-based hedge fund manager, investor and entrepreneur described his millions in campaign donations as “investing in Florida’s future.”

“No other state is making so much progress, so quickly, on so many fronts,” he wrote. He said he’s opposing Amendment 3 “to ensure that our state’s many advantages aren’t thrown away.”

“Passage of Amendment 3 would create a monopoly for large marijuana dispensaries and permit pot use in public and private areas throughout Florida,” he claimed in the piece. “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.”

Meanwhile a recent poll suggests the amendment currently has enough support to pass, with majority support across every voter demographic surveyed.

The University of North Florida (UNF) poll, released on Tuesday, found that 64 percent of likely voters back the cannabis reform measure, surpassing the 60 percent threshold required for enacting a constitutional amendment. Notably, the respondents in the survey were read the full text of the Amendment 3 summary that will appear on their ballots.

Democrats were most supportive of the proposal at 79 percent, followed by independents (63 percent) and Republicans (50 percent). There was also majority support across each race and age demographic, as well as among both those who voted for President Joe Biden (78 percent) and former President Donald Trump (50 percent) in 2020.

The new donations from Griffin narrow the gap between the legalization proposal’s supporters—who have raised far more overall, predominantly from the marijuana company Trulieve—and opponents, led largely by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has repeatedly lashed out against legalization.

A member of DeSantis’s staff, senior analyst Christina Pushaw, posted Griffin’s op-ed on on social media, adding: “Whether you are for or against marijuana, the fact is that Amendment 3 is NOT what its backers try to back it as. Don’t California our Florida!”

Great points here. Whether you are for or against marijuana, the fact is that Amendment 3 is NOT what its backers try to brand it as. Don’t California our Florida!

“Passage of Amendment 3 would create a monopoly for large marijuana dispensaries and permit pot use in public and… https://t.co/bZYJdfws5A

— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) August 2, 2024

Sarah Bascom, spokeswoman for the “Vote No on 3 Campaign,” said Griffin’s donation would significantly aid the campaign’s efforts, according to a report in The Capitolist.

“These valuable resources will help us as we continue to ramp up what will be a vigorous and full-throated campaign to warn Floridians about this deceptive amendment that would make Florida the California of the east,” Bascom said in a statement. “Ken Griffin knows full-well how failed policies can cripple an economy and drive away businesses and we thank him for supporting our campaign so we can ensure that never happens in Florida and it remains a model for the rest of the nation.”

The legalization campaign, Smart & Safe Florida, told the outlet that Amendment 3’s passage would mean “a freer, safer, and healthier Florida.”

“More than 1 million Floridians signed a petition to put Amendment 3 on the ballot so that no adult will go to jail for possessing small amounts of marijuana, and Floridians will no longer have to turn to street products laced with dangerous substances like fentanyl,” said campaign spokesperson Morgan Hill. “We remain focused on communicating the public health benefits and expanded individual freedom of legalizing recreational marijuana for adults and creating a better Florida for all.”

As opponents, including DeSantis and state law enforcement associations, step up their efforts to convince voters to reject the proposal, a Republican senator recently broke with his party to come out in support of the measure.

GOP Sen. Joe Gruters (R), who currently serves as chair of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, endorsed Amendment 3 this week, calling the initiative a “common-sense decision that prioritizes individual freedom, health, safety and economic growth.”

“By legalizing recreational marijuana for adults, we can give Floridians access to safe products, generate significant revenue for critical public services and create new job opportunities for Floridians,” he said. “I urge you to join me in voting ‘Yes’ on Amendment 3 this November. Together, we can build a safer, smarter future for the Free State of Florida.”

The endorsement is all the more notable considering that the senator previously served as chairman of the Florida Republican Party, which officially came out against the marijuana initiative in May, clearing the way for the governor to raise money to fund an opposition campaign against the measure.

Grunter’s endorsement of the legalization measure came one day after the Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) and the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) both came out against Amendment 3. They argued that the reform would cause increases in youth use, impaired driving, illicit operations and tax costs for residents, citing dubious evidence.

Last month, the governor also attacked Amendment 3 at the Republican National Convention, making hyperbolic claims about what the reform would allow—claims backers say are “absolutely untrue.”

DeSantis called the proposed constitutional amendment “limitless,” arguing that it would establish a right to marijuana that would be more fundamental than First Amendment or Second Amendment protections for free speech and guns, respectively.

Speaking at a recent police event, DeSantis also falsely claimed that most Colorado voters “regret” approving marijuana legalization. In fact, recent polling shows that the reform continues to enjoy strong support there.

News also broke last month that DeSantis’s so-called “Florida Freedom Fund” received a $100,000 donation from the cannabis company group POB Ventures in order to help defeat the marijuana and abortion proposals. That amount was nearly ten times what the campaign had raised in total at the beginning of July.

In an exclusive interview with Marijuana Moment, the CEO of POB Ventures, Patrick O’Brien, said he’s not against adult-use cannabis legalization in principle—but is instead troubled by the specific language of the ballot initiative because it provides an option, rather than a mandate, for regulators to approve additional licenses.

Suspicions about the motivations behind the contribution to DeSantis’s PAC aren’t likely to dissolve, especially amid new reporting from CBS News Miami that unnamed hemp businesses have joined forces to back DeSantis in his fight against the legalization measure, with a pledge to contribute $5 million collectively to the state Republican Party after the governor vetoed the bill that ostensibly would have wiped out the market by banning most consumable cannabinoid products.

It’s been previously reported that the governor is hoping to garner support for his efforts to defeat the marijuana legalization initiative from the state’s hemp industry. DeSantis seemed to concede in June that his veto of a bill to ban most consumable hemp-derived cannabinoids was at least partly because he hoped the market would aid in his anti-legalization campaign.

The DeSantis campaign committee, even with the recent contributions, is still a ways behind the legalization campaign, Smart & Safe Florida, in terms of fundraising. The legalization effort has raised over $60 million since launching in late 2022.

DeSantis has been railing against the marijuana measure for months—most recently arguing that it would protect the right to use cannabis more strongly than the First Amendment protects free speech or the Second Amendment protects gun rights—and again claiming that the reform has been a “failed experiment” in states such as Colorado.

The governor said last month that the proposal would allow people to “do marijuana wherever you want—just smoke it, take it, and it would turn Florida into San Francisco or Chicago or some of these places.”

He also reprised one of his chief complaints about the potential impact of legalization: smelling cannabis.

“We’ve got to keep our streets clean. We cannot have every town smelling like marijuana. We cannot have every hotel smelling—theme parks,” he said, adding that voters don’t really understand the specifics of the legalization proposal and that ballot initiatives are generally “so bogus.”

DeSantis acknowledged that the state Supreme Court has a role in reviewing ballot language for constitutionality, and that a majority of justices determined that the marijuana measure met the legal standard. But while he previously correctly predicted the court would approve the initiative following a challenge from state Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), he now says the two dissenting justices were “correct” in trying to block voters from deciding on the measure.

DeSantis also claimed in June that that if voters approve the marijuana legalization initiative, people “will be able to bring 20 joints to an elementary school”—and he again complained about the prevalent odor of cannabis that he says would result from the reform.

Legalization has “not worked in any single place,” the governor said, and he challenged a recent ad from the campaign that promoted regulating cannabis as an alternative to the status quo of people using untested cannabis from illicit sellers.

Meanwhile, according to a recently released Fox News poll, two in three Florida voters support the cannabis initiative—with the issue proving more popular than the governor himself. The survey showed majority support for legalization across the political spectrum, too.

The governor has consistently argued that the state shouldn’t go beyond the existing medical cannabis program and that broader reform would negatively impact the quality of life for Floridians. The Florida Republican Party also formally came out against Amendment 3 in June.

Smart & Safe Florida separately announced in March that it was working to form a coalition of veterans to build voter support for the reform, and the campaign has since formally launched that initiative.

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Here’s what the Smart & Safe Florida marijuana legalization initiative would accomplish:

• Adults 21 and older could purchase and possess up to three ounces of cannabis for personal use. The cap for marijuana concentrates would be five grams.
• Medical cannabis dispensaries could “acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute marijuana products and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use.”
• The legislature would be authorized—but not required—to approve additional entities that are not currently licensed cannabis dispensaries.
• The initiative specifies that nothing in the proposal prevents the legislature from “enacting laws that are consistent with this amendment.”
• The amendment further clarifies that nothing about the proposal “changes federal law,” which seems to be an effort to avoid past legal challenges about misleading ballot language.
• There are no provisions for home cultivation, expungement of prior records or social equity.
• The measure would take effect six months following approval by voters.

Here’s the full text of the ballot title and summary:

“Allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise; allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories. Applies to Florida law; does not change, or immunize violations of, federal law. Establishes possession limits for personal use. Allows consistent legislation. Defines terms. Provides effective date.”

Economic analysts from the Florida legislature and DeSantis’s office, estimate that the marijuana legalization initiative would generate between $195.6 million and $431.3 million in new sales tax revenue annually if voters enact it. Those figures could increase considerably if lawmakers opted to impose an additional excise tax on cannabis transactions that’s similar to the ones in place in other legalized states.

Unlike the governor, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) said in April that he does believe Florida voters will approve the legalization initiative.

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