The family that founded the Publix supermarket chain has given $800,000 to a lobbying group fighting the legalization of medical marijuana in Florida. 
 
 The trust of Carol Jenkins Barnett, the chairwoman and president of Publix, made the donation earlier this month to the Drug Free Florida Committee, The Ledger reports, citing financial disclosure records from the Florida Division of Elections. The group is opposed to Amendment 2, a measure up for a statewide vote in November that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for certain debilitating illnesses, according to The News-Press. 
 
 Barnett is the daughter of Publix founder George Jenkins. She was recently diagnosed with younger onset Alzheimer’s disease and stepped down from Publix’s board of directors in June, the company had announced. 
 
 Publix said Barnett’s donation was “personal” and was not made on the company’s behalf. 
 
 “Carol Jenkins Barnett has long supported efforts to protect Florida’s families and children against the perils of drug abuse. As such, she feels that Amendment 2 would usher in an unprecedented era of legalized marijuana in Florida as opposed to only helping those who suffer from debilitating illnesses,” Publix said in a statement to TIME. “It is her desire to maintain the health and welfare of Floridians. For this reason, she contributed to Drug Free Florida, which is dedicated to educating the public on the dangerous consequences contained in this ballot initiative.” 
 
 Contact us at editors@time.com. ||||| Florida loves Publix, the supermarket chain routinely ranked the most valuable and beloved company in the whole state thanks in no small part to its fantastically salty sub sandwiches. So it's sure to jar a few hard-core Publix fans to learn that the family that founded the chain just donated $800,000 to a conservative-led campaign fighting medical marijuana legalization. 
 
 State election records show that the Carol Jenkins Barnett Family Trust donated $800,000 July 14 to Drug Free Florida, the lobbying group running a scare-tactics campaign to kill Florida's medical marijuana amendments. The same group helped squash 2014's medical marijuana amendment, which fell just two percentage points short of the 60 percent vote it needed to pass statewide. 
 
 With a similar bill called Amendment 2 on the ballot this November, Drug Free Florida is back spreading lies, half-truths, and misinformation about the proposed law. Miami New Times debunked ten of the group's most egregiously false claims yesterday — and our sister paper, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, also compiled a list of the most hilarious, Reefer Madness-style videos Drug Free Florida has put out this year too. 
 
 According to Forbes, Jenkins Barnett, daughter of Publix founder George Jenkins, is worth $1.8 billion and owns under 5 percent of the supermarket chain. She was reportedly Publix's largest shareholder as of June. 
 
 It appears Jenkins Barnett, who stepped down from her role with the chain last month as she fights early-onset Alzheimer's at age 59, really doesn't like medical marijuana. She reportedly gave more than $500,000 to Drug Free Florida in 2014 — this year, she's given even more to ensure the amendment doesn't pass. 
 
 This could, theoretically, be because Publix is also one of the largest pharmacies in the South, and legalized medical weed might cut into her family's prescription-pill business, but United for Care Campaign Manager Ben Pollara — whose group is backing Amendment 2 — tells New Times that cannabis fans shouldn't start picketing outside Publix stores just yet. 
 
 He says he doesn't know why Barnett's family trust donated during both ballot cycles, but he assumes it has less to do with Publix's bottom line than it does with Barnett's own politics. 
 
 "I'm still shopping at Publix, let's put it that way," he says. "I don’t want the potheads to get up in arms and boycott Publix just yet." 
 
 IF @Publix is really fighting against medical marijuana I'm gonna have to stop shopping there. — Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) July 26, 2016 
 
 Publix spokesperson Maria Brous tells New Times the donation was not officially connected to Publix. 
 
 "Publix has not made a contribution in support of or in opposition to Amendment 2," she says via email. "The donation made by Carol Jenkins Barnett was a personal donation and not one made by the company." 
 
 Elsewhere, Publix is known for donating at least $25 million each year to charities such as the United Way. Under Jenkins Barnett's watch, the chain reportedly donated $250,000 to help the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June. 
 
 So Pollara seems flummoxed why she's fighting so hard to kill medical pot in Florida. 
 
 "I have no idea why she's donating," Pollara says, "but I do think she's pissing away her money." 
 
 According to a United for Care-funded poll released yesterday, 77 percent of Florida voters support medical marijuana legalization. 
 
 ||||| Drug-Free Florida saw another big fundraising period, raising more than $800,000 in about a week. 
 
 State records show the organization raised $805,000 between July 9 and July 15, the most recent fundraising period. That sum includes a single $800,000 donation from the Carol Jenkins Barnett Family Trust and brings its total fundraising haul to more than $8.1 million 
 
 Carol Jenkins Barnett is the daughter of George Jenkins, the founder of Publix Super Markets. She is a longtime supporter of programs benefiting children, and, according to Forbes, has served as chair and president of the Publix Super Market Charities, which donates millions each to nonprofit organizations that support education and the homeless. 
 
 Records show the family trust gave $540,000 in 2014 to Drug-Free Florida. The group ran a successful campaign against the 2014 medical marijuana ballot initiative and is ramping up its efforts ahead of the 2016 election. 
 
 The committee also received a $5,000 contribution from Neal Communities of Southwest Florida in the most recent fundraising period. 
 
 The committee spent $31,517 between July 9 and July 15. 
 
 Drug-Free Florida has raised more than $1.8 million since January. The vast majority of that sum comes from two sources — the Carol Jenkins Barnett Family Trust and prominent St. Petersburg fundraiser Mel Sembler, who, since May, has given $1 million to the effort. 
 
 Drug-Free Florida ended the fundraising period with more than $1.6 million cash on hand. 
 
 The opposition campaign outraised and outspent the group backing the 2016 ballot initiative during the one-week fundraising period. 
 
 Records show People United for Medical Marijuana raised $6,567 between July 9 and July 15, bringing its total fundraising haul to nearly $9.7 million. The group spent $53,343 between July 8 and July 15. 
 
 The 2016 ballot initiative allows individuals with debilitating medical conditions, as determined by a licensed Florida physician, to use medical marijuana. The amendment defines a debilitating condition like cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other things. 
 
 A survey released Monday found 77 percent of likely Florida voters supported the amendment. 
 
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 comments ||||| With Floridians poised to vote this fall on broad legalization of medical marijuana, Gov. Rick Scott on Friday signed a bill that will allow terminally ill patients to have access to marijuana as they try to ease suffering. 
 
 The bill, which lawmakers approved this month, was one of 68 measures that Scott signed into law Friday. He also vetoed one bill dealing with a utility in Alachua County. 
 
 Scott did not issue a comment on the medical-marijuana bill (HB 307), but House sponsor Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, went on Twitter to say the governor showed "heart & compassion" by signing the measure. 
 
 The bill expands a 2015 law known as the "Right to Try Act" to include medical marijuana. That law allows terminally ill patients to have access to experimental drugs that have not been approved for general use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 
 
 Along with making marijuana available to dying patients, the bill also seeks to address long-running problems in carrying out a 2014 cannabis law that was primarily billed as a way to help children with severe forms of epilepsy. That law was supposed to make available forms of cannabis that do not get users high --- but administrative issues and legal challenges have prevented patients from getting access to the substances. 
 
 The 2014 law and the newly signed bill are far narrower than the legalization proposal that will go on the November ballot. That proposed constitutional amendment, spearheaded by prominent Orlando attorney John Morgan, would allow patients with a wide variety of medical conditions to use full-strength marijuana if they get physician approval. Examples of those conditions include cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn's disease and Parkinson's disease. 
 
 A similar ballot initiative in 2014 fell short of the required 60 percent voter approval for proposed constitutional amendments. 
 
 The 68 bills signed into law Friday were part of 111 measures that Scott approved this week, as he continues plowing through legislation passed during the session that ended March 11. 
 
 The most-controversial bill signed Friday was a measure (HB 1411) that will place additional restrictions on abortion clinics and seek to prevent public money from going to groups such as Planned Parenthood. While public money cannot be used for elective abortions, it has been able to go toward other health services provided by Planned Parenthood. The measure was sponsored by Rep. Colleen Burton and Sen. Kelli Stargel, both Lakeland Republicans. 
 
 Other bills signed Friday that dealt with health-care issues included a measure (HB 1061) aimed at helping nurses practice across state lines. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Cary Pigman, R-Avon Park, and Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, would lead to Florida entering into what is known as a "nurse licensure compact" with more than two dozen other states. 
 
 Florida nurses would be able to receive multi-state licenses to practice in other states that are part of the compact. Similarly, nurses from the other states would be able to practice in Florida. 
 
 Also, Scott signed a bill (SB 586), sponsored by Stargel and Burton, that would require hospitals to notify doctors at least 120 days before closing obstetrical units or halting obstetrical services. Supporters of the measure argued, at least in part, that obstetrical-unit closures can affect pregnant women who are nearly ready to give birth. 
 
 The Alachua County utility bill (HB 1355) was the only measure Scott vetoed during the week. In a veto message, Scott said the bill would create an authority to manage and operate city-owned Gainesville Regional Utilities. But he objected to part of the bill that would provide compensation to appointed board members of the authority. 
 
 "Across Florida, hundreds of appointees serve on boards with critical governance and regulatory responsibilities for which the appointees are not compensated,'' the veto message said. "The success of similar utility authorities that do not compensate board members demonstrates that qualified individuals will answer the call to serve the public, without consideration of a taxpayer supported payment."
– One of Florida's richest women is donating big time to keep medical marijuana out of the state. The trust of Carol Jenkins Barnett, daughter of the founder of the Publix supermarket chain, has donated $800,000 to the Drug Free Florida group, which is fighting a legalization measure on the ballot this November, the Miami New Times reports. Amendment 2 would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for what it calls "debilitating medical conditions," including cancer, HIV, epilepsy, and PTSD, reports the SaintPetersBlog. A similar amendment failed in 2014—with Barnett's trust donating $540,000 to defeat it—and the only Floridians who now have access to medical marijuana are children with severe epilepsy, who are prescribed a low-THC version, and terminal cancer patients allowed to use marijuana under an "experimental drugs" program, reports the Miami Herald. Barnett, 59, has early onset Alzheimer's and resigned from the company's board last month. Publix says her donation to the anti-pot group is personal and does not reflect company policy. "She feels that Amendment 2 would usher in an unprecedented era of legalized marijuana in Florida as opposed to only helping those who suffer from debilitating illnesses," the company said in a statement to Time. The campaign manager for United for Care, which is leading the legalization campaign, says he thinks she's wasting her money, but it isn't time for "potheads to get up in arms and boycott Publix just yet." "I'm still shopping at Publix, let's put it that way," he tells the New Times. The amendment needs 60% support to pass, and a poll released Monday shows 77% of Floridians in favor. (Scientists have determined how much pot is in a joint.)