Effort to defeat marijuana ballot question gets $12M boost from Florida billionaire

Ken Griffin, the Republican billionaire who donated more than $10 million to support Gov. Ron DeSantis’ gubernatorial races, said he has put forward $12 million to defeat Florida’s recreational marijuana amendment.

Amendment 3, which will be on the ballot in November, would allow people 21 and older to legally buy and use marijuana without a medical card. DeSantis has come out against the amendment, saying it would devalue Floridians’ quality of life by polluting the air with a marijuana stench — and saying that Florida’s Legislature would not be able to regulate when and where people can smoke.

In an opinion piece in the Miami Herald, Griffin echoed that sentiment, saying the amendment would “permit pot use in public and private areas throughout Florida.” “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,” Griffin wrote.

The Amendment 3 sponsor group, Smart & Safe Florida, has said the Legislature would be able to regulate marijuana use in the same way they can regulate tobacco use.

Griffin donated the $12 million to a newly formed political committee created to defeat the amendment. The registered fundraising committee is called Keep Florida Clean, but the public facing campaign is called Vote No on 3. [Read More @ The Miami Herald]