by Gabe Kaminsky
Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried, who supports marijuana legalization, said Wednesday she is in the “process of liquidating” her pot company holdings after a Daily Caller News Foundation story on the matter.
Fried made the claim in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel Wednesday. Fried owns roughly $183,000 in Trulieve, the second largest public cannabis company by market cap, her 2022 financial disclosure shows, and reported a roughly $130,000 stake in Harvest Health and Recreation, a pot dispensary company Trulieve now owns, on her 2021 disclosure.
“There is no conflict,” said Fried, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “I made it very clear to the people of the state in 2018 that I came from the industry. That is what got me into my activism, my desire to not only expand the medical marijuana program, but also get to legalization.”
Harvest Health and Recreation has 14 Florida locations and Trulieve has 118, the DCNF reported Wednesday. Fried got into hot water with the Florida Ethics Commission in December 2021 for not reporting her prior lobbying income.
Fried was a medical marijuana lobbyist prior to her appointment as Florida’s agriculture commissioner in 2018.
“As governor, I’ll legalize weed,” she also said in April 2022.
If you elect me governor, I will legalize marijuana in Florida. #SomethingNew
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) August 21, 2021
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign previously told the DCNF that Fried’s cannabis holdings have “nothing to do with freedom or democracy, but rather it’s all personal and political gain.”
Fried’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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Gabe Kaminsky is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Nikki Fried” by Nikki Fried. Background Photo “Trulieve” by Trulieve.
