Trulieve Tops $30M in Pot Initiative

The medical-cannabis company Trulieve contributed another $5 million last month to a ballot initiative aimed at legalizing recreational use of marijuana, bringing its total contributions to $30.5 million, according to a newly filed finance report. As of Feb. 28, Trulieve had provided all but $124.58 of the money raised by the political committee Smart & Safe Florida. The committee had spent $30.19 million, with almost all of the spending related to petition gathering and verification needed to get on the 2024 ballot. The “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” proposal would allow people 21 or older “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.” Florida voters in 2016 approved a constitutional amendment that broadly allowed medical marijuana. The committee would need to submit 891,589 verified signatures to get on the 2024 ballot. As of Monday morning, the committee had 416,933 petition signatures validated by the state, according to the Division of Elections website. That is more than enough to trigger a crucial review of the proposed ballot wording by the Florida Supreme Court.