'Terrible Plan': Billionaire Ken Griffin Donates $12M To Defeat Florida's Cannabis Legalization Measure

The campaign to defeat Florida's cannabis legalization initiative, known as Amendment 3, got its single largest donation when hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin announced that he's tossing in $20 million. Of that amount, $12 million will go directly to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee formed to oppose the measure that voters will decide upon in the November 2024 election.

Founder and CEO of Citadel with an estimated net worth of $37 billion per Forbes, Griffin called Amendment 3 a "terrible plan to create the nation's most expansive and destructive marijuana laws."

Why? Griffin, a top GOP donor who reportedly gave over $100 million to conservative causes during the 2022 midterm elections, used the cannabis monopoly, youth addiction and increased crime arguments to explain his concern about Amendment 3.

"Passage of Amendment 3 would create a monopoly for large marijuana dispensaries and permit pot use in public and private areas throughout Florida," he said in an op-ed published in the Miami Herald Friday. "That would help no one other than special interests — and it will hurt us all, especially through more dangerous roads, a higher level of addiction among our youth, and an increase in crime."

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To Which Monopoly Do You Refer?

Florida-based medical marijuana company Trulieve Cannabis Corp TCNNF, about which Griffin was likely referring in his monopoly comment, has donated nearly $55 million over two years to Smart and Safe Florida, the political group advocating for passage of Amendment 3, making it the best-funded measure of this particular kind in history.

Morgan Hill, spokesperson for Smart and Safe noted in an email to the Florida Phoenix that Amendment 3 would make Florida freer, safer and healthier.

"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," Hill wrote.

Cannabis Legalization’s Overwhelming Popularity

An early June Fox News poll showed that Amendment 3 was not only more popular than Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), it also enjoyed approval from two-thirds of Florida voters, including a majority of Republicans. A newer poll from the University of North Florida in late July found 64% support for the cannabis amendment and about 69% for legal abortion access, which will also appear on the November ballot.

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Photo of Ken Griffin by Dan G via Flickr