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The Florida campaign behind a marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the November ballot has announced that it\u2019s raised an additional $15 million from a variety of major cannabis companies as it gears up for an effort to raise awareness about the measure among voters.<\/p>\n
Two days after the Florida Supreme Court cleared the initiative for ballot placement<\/a>, rejecting the state attorney general\u2019s constitutional challenge, Smart & Safe Florida said on Wednesday that it\u2019s secured the new funding from donors \u201ccommitted to helping ensure victory this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not only pleased that the court has agreed to move this initiative forward, but we are also thrilled to announce a strong alliance of committed donors to the effort,\u201d campaign chairman David Bellamy said in a press release.<\/p>\n The multi-state operator Trulieve has been the primary financial supporter of the campaign, donating<\/a> about $40 million as advocates worked to collect more than one million signatures to qualify for ballot placement<\/a>. Now it\u2019s being joined by at least six additional marijuana businesses for the last phase of the campaign.<\/p>\n Those companies are: Verano Holdings, Curaleaf Holdings, AYR Wellness, Cresco Labs, Green Thumb Industries and INSA.<\/p>\n https:\/\/t.co\/dHu5AtpR1V<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Smart & Safe Florida (@SmartandSafeFl) April 3, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cAs we move into the next phase of campaigning, we are grateful to have the support of our donors,\u201d the campaign said<\/a>. \u201cWe have come a long way, but our work has only just begun.\u201d<\/p>\n Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, applauded the new campaign donors, thanking them for \u201cstepping up\u201d and \u201cjoining the fight to increase access to cannabis for adults in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n I get by with a little help from my friends\u2026 Thank you @veranobrands<\/a> @curaleaffl<\/a> @GTIGrows<\/a> @crescolabs<\/a> @AYRWellness<\/a> @InsaCannabis<\/a> for stepping up to donate to @SmartandSafeFl<\/a> and joining the fight to increase access to cannabis for adults in Florida. We all say #YesOn3<\/a>!\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Kim Rivers (@rivers_kim) April 3, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n If approved, the measure would change the state Constitution to allow existing medical cannabis companies in the state like Trulieve to begin selling marijuana to all adults over 21. It contains a provision that would allow\u2014but not require\u2014lawmakers to take steps toward the approval of additional businesses. Home cultivation by consumers would not be allowed under the proposal as drafted.<\/p>\n Adults 21 and older would be able to purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, only five grams of which could be marijuana concentrate products. The three-page measure also omits equity provisions favored by advocates such as expungements or other relief for people with prior cannabis convictions.<\/p>\n Separately, economic analysts from the Florida legislature and the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) estimate that the marijuana legalization initiative would\u00a0generate between $195.6 million and $431.3 million<\/a>\u00a0in new sales tax revenue annually if voters enact it. And those figures could increase considerably if lawmakers opted to impose an additional excise tax on cannabis transactions that\u2019s similar to the ones in place in other legalized states.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the Smart & Safe Florida marijuana legalization initiative would accomplish:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Here\u2019s the full text of the ballot title and summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAllows 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Florida Chamber of Commerce released a poll in January showing that a marijuana legalization initiative that may appear on the November ballot enjoys majority support from likely voters\u2014but not quite enough to meet the state\u2019s steep 60 percent threshold for passage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other previous polls have found that\u00a0voters are well-positioned to pass the legalization initiative<\/a>\u00a0with more than enough support. For example, the University of North Florida put out a survey in December that showed 67 percent of voters back the proposal.<\/p>\n While DeSantis opposes the reform\u2014and pledged not to federally decriminalize marijuana if elected president<\/a>\u00a0when he was running\u2014he\u00a0predicted in January that Florida voters will get a chance to decide<\/a>\u00a0on the issue this time.<\/p>\n That said,\u00a0the governor has raised concerns about cannabis legalization in Florida<\/a>, saying there could be a \u201cbig problem\u201d with some of the provisions of the initiative and complaining that letting adults legally consume cannabis could impact businesses and communities\u2014including as the result of odor.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there\u2019s significant interest in how former President Donald Trump, a Florida resident, will vote on the cannabis initiative<\/a>, and whether he will publicly support or oppose it.<\/p>\n For his part, DeSantis also weighed in on another relevant cannabis policy issue recently when he said that he doesn\u2019t believe the federal gun ban for state-legal marijuana consumers is constitutional<\/a>. Florida\u2019s former agriculture commissioner\u00a0brought a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the rule<\/a>, though the governor did not get involved.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a Florida bill that sought to\u00a0cap THC potency if voters approved the legalization initiative<\/a>\u00a0at the ballot died this session, much to the relief of cannabis advocates and stakeholders.<\/p>\n Legislation to\u00a0restrict consumable hemp products and ban delta-8 THC<\/a>\u00a0was approved by lawmakers and awaits DeSantis\u2019s action.<\/p>\n Separately, a House subcommittee recently advanced a medical marijuana bill that would\u00a0waive patient registration and renewal fees<\/a>\u00a0for service-disabled military veterans.<\/p>\n Maryland Officials Tout Nation\u2019s \u2018First\u2019 Marijuana Social Equity Licensing Lottery For All Business Categories<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Announces $15 Million In New Funding From Other Companies Joining Trulieve-Led Effort<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Florida campaign behind a marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the November ballot has announced that it\u2019s raised an additional $15 million from a variety of major cannabis companies as it gears up for an effort to raise awareness about the measure among voters. Two days after theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":73714,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73715,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73713\/revisions\/73715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Announces Million In New Funding From Other Companies Joining Trulieve-Led Effort<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"