The 5 November Presidential ballot will not only decide on who the next President will be. It will also canvass cannabis legalization in some states, Florida being the key one. There US$100 million has been raised to support the law being amended to allow full adult-use consumption.

Ganjapreneur reports that Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign team said on 14 October 2024,  that the Democratic contender would federally legalize cannabis if she wins the election. The announcement came via an update to the campaign agenda focusing on the vice president’s plan to “deliver for Black men and their families.”

The five-part plan includes “Legalizing recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry,” according to the campaign, and the legalization policy would “break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back.”

The Biden Administration is currently maneuvering to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA. 

However, while this change would reduce restrictions, cannabis possession would remain a federal crime — and the vice president said on a podcast last month “We have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior.”

Meanwhile, Harris’ opponent, former President Donald Trump (R), recently said he would vote ‘yes’ on the Florida adult-use cannabis amendment heading to voters this November, and that he supports rescheduling cannabis under federal law and giving cannabis companies the ability to access banking services. The former president, however, stopped short of supporting federal cannabis legalization and previously stated he believes it’s an issue best left for individual states to decide.

The Florida legalization campaign, known as the ‘Amendment 3 Effort’ after the clause which would legalize cannabis, has been the biggest cannabis political campaign in history, with over US$100 million raised in contrbutions by 4 October 2024.

The biggest supporter remains Trulieve, Florida’s largest medical marijuana business. The company gave nearly US$92,3 million over the lifetime of Smart & Safe (the main Amendment 3 fundraiser). Other major contributing cannabis companies were Verano (US$3.5 million) and CuraLeaf (US$3 million).

While raising more than nine figures, the campaign has also spent significantly, reporting almost $96.7 million in campaign expenditures.

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