Big Spending On Historic Vote For Legal Pot In NJ: 2020 Election

NEW JERSEY — There’s been a lot of interest in New Jersey’s historic ballot question to legalize marijuana. And not just from voters, election officials say.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) released a report on campaign spending surrounding Public Question 1, which would amend the state constitution to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for people 21 and over.

The public question is one of three appearing on ballots across New Jersey in the 2020 general election.

• See related article: NJ Marijuana Legalization (5 Things To Know For 2020 Election)

So far, about $1.3 million has been raised by three groups supporting or opposing marijuana legalization in New Jersey. About $733,523 of that has already been spent, election officials said.

A political committee called Building Stronger Communities Action Fund Inc. has raised the most money as of Wednesday, collecting $700,100 and spending $289,000. Its main donor is The Scotts Company of Marysville, Ohio, officials said.

Scotts Miracle-Gro reported in July that its marijuana-focused subsidiary, Hawthorne Gardening Company, earned $302.9 million in the most recent quarter, a 72 percent increase from the year before.

Pro-legalization advocacy group NJ CAN 2020 was the second-largest fundraiser, collecting $574,558 and spending $438,603. Its chief donor so far is American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which has given $323,446, ELEC officials said.

A group opposing the ballot question, Don’t Let NJ Go to Pot Inc., raised $9,688 from six donors and spent $5,920, officials said.

“Whether or not this year’s ballot question election turns out to be a true blockbuster in terms of funds spent, early reports show it already is among the top ten ballot questions in the state’s history,” ELEC Executive Director Jeff Brindle said.

“The vote also is historic since it is the first marijuana-related public question to appear before New Jersey voters,” he added.

According to Brindle, unlike states like California, which have laws that make it easy to put public questions before voters, only a handful of New Jersey referendum elections have drawn heavy spending.

But this year is different, officials noted.

“While it’s impossible to predict the cost of the marijuana ballot question contest, the $1.3 million raised so far already would rank tenth on the top ten most expensive New Jersey ballot questions based on inflation-adjusted numbers,” ELEC officials stated in their report.

View reports filed by political committees involved in this year’s referendum election here.

• See related article: NJ Marijuana Lobbyists Tripled Spending After Chris Christie Left Office

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