Cannabis stocks plunged Wednesday after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and billionaire Ken Griffin successfully defeated a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot.
Amendment 3 – which would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the state’s constitution – failed to receive the 60% support needed to pass under Florida law. It received 55.9%, or about 6 million, votes in favor.
The measure defeat was a huge win for DeSantis, who campaigned against the law, according to a Bloomberg report.
The governor used millions in state funds to run political advertisements against the amendment, according to records obtained by Seeking Rents, a Florida-based newsletter.
He and his wife, Casey, held news conferences with law enforcement, during which they complained about the smell of weed and the risk of increased crime.
Along the way, he won support from Griffin, the hedge fund manager who owns Citadel and Citadel Securities – both of which recently moved from Chicago to Miami. Griffin has a net worth of $46 billion, according to Forbes.
“Floridians of all backgrounds chose cleaner streets, safer neighborhoods and healthier communities,” Griffin told The Post in a statement. “We united together to protect our quality of life.”
Griffin gave $12 million to fund the anti-pot campaign and was the only large individual donor. In total, DeSantis and other opponents racked up $26 million in funding to block the measure, according to Bloomberg.
On Wednesday, the MJ PurePlay 100 index, which tracks the global cannabis industry, shot down 17% – the largest drop since February 2021. Its shares were down another 1.2% on Thursday.
Canadian shares of Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a marijuana retailer and Florida’s largest medical marijuana operator, plunged as much as 47% Wednesday – its worst single-day drop. The stock ticked back up 6.4% on Thursday.
Trulieve had funneled nearly $145 million into the $153 million campaign backing the amendment, according to the Associated Press.
The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis exchange-traded fund fell as much as 30%. It rose 4.5% the next day. Shares Green Thumb Industries, which sells packaged cannabis goods, plummeted as much as 28%. Its stock grew 5.4% on Thursday.
If the ballot measure had passed, it would have legalized recreational marijuana for Florida’s 23 million residents and the state’s millions of yearly tourists. Trulieve had forecast that as many as 2.7 million people would have moved into the legal weed market.
Including Florida, about 60% of the US population would have had access to recreational marijuana, which would have made national legalization more likely, according to the Bloomberg report.
The cannabis industry invested hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding weed farms, processing plants and dispensary networks throughout the state in hopes the legalization would send business soaring.
But DeSantis’ campaign successfully struck down the amendment, prolonging the fight for weed legalization in the state.
Nick Iarossi, a Tallahassee lobbyist and longtime DeSantis supporter, said DeSantis’ campaign was about more than weed – it was a way of restaking his political claim after former president Donald Trump’s win in the GOP primary.
“A lot of people were saying he was in the sunset of his career, but this shows that’s not the case,” Iarossi told Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump – a Florida voter – backed Amendment 3 and said he would be voting yes. Roger Stone, one of Trump’s longtime political advisers, also said he would be voting in favor of weed legalization.
A Floridian celebrity injury lawyer, John Morgan, even became known as “Pot Daddy” across the state as he outspokenly supported the amendment.