Baron23
Well-Known Member
this is a monumentally stupid idea and Floridians need to take their politicians to the woodshed over this kind of idiocy and paternalistic arrogance.
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Law Florida
- Thread starter His_Highness
- Start date
Baron23
Well-Known Member
"Capping THC is a priority of House Speaker José Oliva, R-Miami Lakes....sic...Oliva made a business career building his family’s cigar brand, Oliva Cigars, which he launched with his brothers in 1995.:
Great. Wonderful. The lack of any sort of shame by this guy is breathtaking. He wants us to believe that he is committed to protecting Floridians health against impact my cannabis while he is pushing tobacco....one of the most addictive and destructive herbs consumed by mankind.
In consideration of my high regard for @momofthegoons , I will not express my unalloyed opinion of this person
THC cap on medical marijuana progresses in the House
An amendment that establishes a potency cap of 10% THC for medical marijuana patients under 21 has made its way back to the Florida House floor, where it was tacked onto a larger healthcare bill during a floor session Thursday.
The amendment, which passed with a voice vote on the floor, would not apply to patients 21 and younger with terminal illnesses.
THC is the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, and can be found in whole-flower marijuana, tinctures, oils, vaporizers and edibles. Smokable cannabis now being sold by the state’s medical marijuana treatment centers has potency as high as 30%.
The proposal to put a cap on THC levels in medical marijuana has become a bone of contention in Tallahassee over the last two years.
Capping THC is a priority of House Speaker José Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, who said Wednesday the chemical in medical marijuana could “possibly be detrimental to a young brain.”
Oliva made a business career building his family’s cigar brand, Oliva Cigars, which he launched with his brothers in 1995.
The more moderate Senate showed little interest in capping THC.
THC CAPS IN THE FL HOUSE
The House led the charge on capping THC last year, but the idea fizzled at the end of the legislative session. Last week the idea popped up in the Senate, but it was withdrawn after not garnering enough support.
The amendment eventually landed in the House, where it was tacked onto a large, sweeping healthcare package filed by Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Miami. The amendment was never debated in committee, where the public has the opportunity to comment in front of lawmakers.
Rep. Ray Rodrigues, who pushed the issue in 2019, was behind the proposal again.
“The science on this settled ... the brain is not fully developed until it is 25. Those under 21 are most susceptible to the effects of marijuana,” the Estero Republican said. “That’s what the science is.”
Rodrigues’ amendment also clarifies daily dose limits on medical marijuana, mandates that independent testing labs cannot be owned by a medical marijuana treatment center and requires that the state cannot renew a medical marijuana treatment center’s license if the company is not dispensing marijuana, addressing what some call “ghost license holders.”
Last year, a similar healthcare bill of Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez’s got “bogged down” after she was saddled with a THC cap amendment that eventually caused the bill to stall out
Her bill revises provisions related to a slew of healthcare issues, like children’s medical services, license requirements for certain medical professions and incident reporting for dentists. It has not yet gone for a full House vote.
“[THC caps] are obviously a contentious issue, but the overall bill has so much good in it, so I hope that it passes with or without the THC cap,” Rodriguez said. “I have personally not taken a position one way or another, but I’m open to hearing the debate.”
She said since the THC cap mandate is an Oliva priority, she thinks passing the cap may have success in the Senate in exchange for a priority of Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.
“The likelihood is that it may be an issue that may be being used as a bargaining chip,” she said.
Some Republicans, like Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, have spoken out against the idea, warning that capping THC levels would make life worse for many veterans who use medical marijuana to cope with issues like like post-traumatic stress disorder.
DEMOCRATS PUSH BACK
House Democrats who opposed the amendment brought up issues of cost, interference with doctor-patient relationships and potential future litigation.
Rodrigues said he has researched countries that have THC caps, like the Netherlands, and used European studies to come up with the 10% number, as opposed to 15% or other proposed caps.
He cited research indicating that high-potency marijuana is associated with earlier onset of psychosis and the development of schizophrenia in marijuana users.
Once Swedish study he cited was based on patients who had experienced at least one psychotic episode in their lives and then self-reported their previous marijuana usage to researchers.
“If you look at governments that have done this ... the allegation that people will consume more does not prove to be the fact that occurred,” he said.
Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, filed an amendment to strip out the THC cap and instead mandate a study examining whether any qualified patient has been harmed by the use of medical marijuana. His amendment failed 42-68. One Republican voted for the amendment — Rep. Sam Killebrew, R-Winter Haven.
“As you can tell, me and many other people do not believe it is appropriate for the legislature to enact these THC caps and place itself between a patient and a doctor,” he said. “I have heard from dozens of families, doctors, organizations and moms who are adamantly opposed to capping THC in this way.”
Great. Wonderful. The lack of any sort of shame by this guy is breathtaking. He wants us to believe that he is committed to protecting Floridians health against impact my cannabis while he is pushing tobacco....one of the most addictive and destructive herbs consumed by mankind.
In consideration of my high regard for @momofthegoons , I will not express my unalloyed opinion of this person
THC cap on medical marijuana progresses in the House
An amendment that establishes a potency cap of 10% THC for medical marijuana patients under 21 has made its way back to the Florida House floor, where it was tacked onto a larger healthcare bill during a floor session Thursday.
The amendment, which passed with a voice vote on the floor, would not apply to patients 21 and younger with terminal illnesses.
THC is the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, and can be found in whole-flower marijuana, tinctures, oils, vaporizers and edibles. Smokable cannabis now being sold by the state’s medical marijuana treatment centers has potency as high as 30%.
The proposal to put a cap on THC levels in medical marijuana has become a bone of contention in Tallahassee over the last two years.
Capping THC is a priority of House Speaker José Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, who said Wednesday the chemical in medical marijuana could “possibly be detrimental to a young brain.”
Oliva made a business career building his family’s cigar brand, Oliva Cigars, which he launched with his brothers in 1995.
The more moderate Senate showed little interest in capping THC.
THC CAPS IN THE FL HOUSE
The House led the charge on capping THC last year, but the idea fizzled at the end of the legislative session. Last week the idea popped up in the Senate, but it was withdrawn after not garnering enough support.
The amendment eventually landed in the House, where it was tacked onto a large, sweeping healthcare package filed by Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Miami. The amendment was never debated in committee, where the public has the opportunity to comment in front of lawmakers.
Rep. Ray Rodrigues, who pushed the issue in 2019, was behind the proposal again.
“The science on this settled ... the brain is not fully developed until it is 25. Those under 21 are most susceptible to the effects of marijuana,” the Estero Republican said. “That’s what the science is.”
Rodrigues’ amendment also clarifies daily dose limits on medical marijuana, mandates that independent testing labs cannot be owned by a medical marijuana treatment center and requires that the state cannot renew a medical marijuana treatment center’s license if the company is not dispensing marijuana, addressing what some call “ghost license holders.”
Last year, a similar healthcare bill of Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez’s got “bogged down” after she was saddled with a THC cap amendment that eventually caused the bill to stall out
Her bill revises provisions related to a slew of healthcare issues, like children’s medical services, license requirements for certain medical professions and incident reporting for dentists. It has not yet gone for a full House vote.
“[THC caps] are obviously a contentious issue, but the overall bill has so much good in it, so I hope that it passes with or without the THC cap,” Rodriguez said. “I have personally not taken a position one way or another, but I’m open to hearing the debate.”
She said since the THC cap mandate is an Oliva priority, she thinks passing the cap may have success in the Senate in exchange for a priority of Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.
“The likelihood is that it may be an issue that may be being used as a bargaining chip,” she said.
Some Republicans, like Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, have spoken out against the idea, warning that capping THC levels would make life worse for many veterans who use medical marijuana to cope with issues like like post-traumatic stress disorder.
DEMOCRATS PUSH BACK
House Democrats who opposed the amendment brought up issues of cost, interference with doctor-patient relationships and potential future litigation.
Rodrigues said he has researched countries that have THC caps, like the Netherlands, and used European studies to come up with the 10% number, as opposed to 15% or other proposed caps.
He cited research indicating that high-potency marijuana is associated with earlier onset of psychosis and the development of schizophrenia in marijuana users.
Once Swedish study he cited was based on patients who had experienced at least one psychotic episode in their lives and then self-reported their previous marijuana usage to researchers.
“If you look at governments that have done this ... the allegation that people will consume more does not prove to be the fact that occurred,” he said.
Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, filed an amendment to strip out the THC cap and instead mandate a study examining whether any qualified patient has been harmed by the use of medical marijuana. His amendment failed 42-68. One Republican voted for the amendment — Rep. Sam Killebrew, R-Winter Haven.
“As you can tell, me and many other people do not believe it is appropriate for the legislature to enact these THC caps and place itself between a patient and a doctor,” he said. “I have heard from dozens of families, doctors, organizations and moms who are adamantly opposed to capping THC in this way.”
Baron23
Well-Known Member
This is a damning indictment of FL legislators and bureaucrats and should be a call to all FL who respect democracy to replace these recalcitrant politicians (how's that, Mom...I didn't even call them a name! haha ;-) )
Where Is Florida In The Fight For Marijuana Legalization?
The overwhelming majority of Floridians support legal cannabis, yet the state legislature and Department of Health have done everything possible to make access to this plant as cumbersome as possible.
Florida is currently a legal medical marijuana state, but with some twists. The road to get here wasn’t easy, and there is still a long way to go before Floridians have any form of adult use or recreational cannabis available to them.
In November of 2016 Floridians voted on a constitutional amendment to introduce medical cannabis to the state. The amendment passed with 71.3% of voters in favor of the initiative.
The first major obstacle for patient access was the way the Florida legislature implemented the newly passed constitutional rights. Florida is a truly vertically integrated state, with license holders responsible for all levels of the cannabis industry, from cultivation to processing, all the way through dispensing the medication to patients. This is still the case here, with the Office of Medical Marijuana Use originally only issuing 4 licenses and slowly adding more as the patient count grew.
Florida currently has 22 licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTC, Florida’s legal term for these vertically integrated cannabis companies), with only 13 actively dispensing products to the now 300k+ patients, according to statistics.
Beyond the limited number of available companies to purchase their cannabis, patients in Florida have also had to tackle a number of issues surrounding what the “powers that be” in the Florida Department of Health would allow for delivery method. When the first crop of cannabis companies began dispensing products here in Florida, they were limited to “vapeable” concentrates and tinctures.
Even beyond that, for the first several months of sales, the MMTCs were only allowed to sell CBD to an in-person patient but could deliver THC products to patient’s homes. Floridian’s didn’t have access to whole flower medication for nearly three years until a lawsuit from Cathy Jordan ruled that the limitations in place by the state were unconstitutional.
Floridians are still waiting for approval of rules to allow legal sales of edibles, which have only recently received proposed rules. Recent attempts at getting adult use ballot initiatives onto the 2020 ballot have also run into some complications, with the Make It Legal Florida petition qualifying for Supreme Court review but failing to get the signatures required to make it onto the ballot.
There are also currently a few measures being floated throughout the Florida legislature regarding placing a 10% cap on THC products — potentially making medical cards free for veterans — and an additional adult use ballot initiative called Regulate Florida that has also qualified for Supreme Court review, but failed to make the required signature count to make the 2020 ballot.
Basically, the overwhelming majority of Floridians support legal cannabis, yet the state legislature and Department of Health have done everything possible to make access to this plant as cumbersome as possible. From limited store choices to arbitrarily complex and slow approval processes for getting a product from R&D to consumers, it seems like Florida is dead set on making it as hard as possible for patients.
So, while Florida is technically a legal medical state, it is far from a perfect or comprehensive system, and it is standing in the way of the will of its own citizens.
Where Is Florida In The Fight For Marijuana Legalization?
The overwhelming majority of Floridians support legal cannabis, yet the state legislature and Department of Health have done everything possible to make access to this plant as cumbersome as possible.
Florida is currently a legal medical marijuana state, but with some twists. The road to get here wasn’t easy, and there is still a long way to go before Floridians have any form of adult use or recreational cannabis available to them.
In November of 2016 Floridians voted on a constitutional amendment to introduce medical cannabis to the state. The amendment passed with 71.3% of voters in favor of the initiative.
The first major obstacle for patient access was the way the Florida legislature implemented the newly passed constitutional rights. Florida is a truly vertically integrated state, with license holders responsible for all levels of the cannabis industry, from cultivation to processing, all the way through dispensing the medication to patients. This is still the case here, with the Office of Medical Marijuana Use originally only issuing 4 licenses and slowly adding more as the patient count grew.
Florida currently has 22 licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTC, Florida’s legal term for these vertically integrated cannabis companies), with only 13 actively dispensing products to the now 300k+ patients, according to statistics.
Beyond the limited number of available companies to purchase their cannabis, patients in Florida have also had to tackle a number of issues surrounding what the “powers that be” in the Florida Department of Health would allow for delivery method. When the first crop of cannabis companies began dispensing products here in Florida, they were limited to “vapeable” concentrates and tinctures.
Even beyond that, for the first several months of sales, the MMTCs were only allowed to sell CBD to an in-person patient but could deliver THC products to patient’s homes. Floridian’s didn’t have access to whole flower medication for nearly three years until a lawsuit from Cathy Jordan ruled that the limitations in place by the state were unconstitutional.
Floridians are still waiting for approval of rules to allow legal sales of edibles, which have only recently received proposed rules. Recent attempts at getting adult use ballot initiatives onto the 2020 ballot have also run into some complications, with the Make It Legal Florida petition qualifying for Supreme Court review but failing to get the signatures required to make it onto the ballot.
There are also currently a few measures being floated throughout the Florida legislature regarding placing a 10% cap on THC products — potentially making medical cards free for veterans — and an additional adult use ballot initiative called Regulate Florida that has also qualified for Supreme Court review, but failed to make the required signature count to make the 2020 ballot.
Basically, the overwhelming majority of Floridians support legal cannabis, yet the state legislature and Department of Health have done everything possible to make access to this plant as cumbersome as possible. From limited store choices to arbitrarily complex and slow approval processes for getting a product from R&D to consumers, it seems like Florida is dead set on making it as hard as possible for patients.
So, while Florida is technically a legal medical state, it is far from a perfect or comprehensive system, and it is standing in the way of the will of its own citizens.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
If you are a Floridian, and this article doesn't enrage you, you might want to check to see if your spouse is secretly feeding you Thorazine. Yeah.
Florida, man: Why 2020 legalization failed in the Sunshine State
In late 2019, there were two viable adult-use legalization measures vying for a place on the Nov. 2020 ballot. By the end of January, both were dead. What happened?
If you want to understand how surreal things have become on Florida’s winding and rutted path to full legalization, you might hang out at Carlos Hermida’s Chillum Glass Gallery and CBD Dispensary in Tampa.
Hermida’s shop is located on 7th Avenue in the historic Ybor City neighborhood, a kind of Bourbon Street lite: The strip leans hard into the touristic appetite for cigars, tattoos, and hookah pipes.
Hermida, who occupies a storefront a few doors down from Coyote Ugly, is a burly man with an amiable vibe and a bushy black beard just beginning to bleed gray. His space is packed with all kinds of merch, from pipes to apparel. A chalkboard advertises CDB blunts among its line of $5 specials. As one might expect, Hermida is in favor of expanding Florida’s medical marijuana program to incorporate recreational use.
Or let’s say that he’s in favor of it in spirit. When canvassers for Make It Legal Florida—the organization behind a proposed constitutional amendment legalizing adult use—showed up in early January asking permission to gather signatures by his entrance, he told them no.
Looking for a medical marijuana doctor? Find one in Florida
‘I’m not a big fan’
At the time, Make It Legal Florida, which understandably avoids using an acronym, was the last of two proposals left standing with ambitions for the statewide ballot in 2020. The other one folded in late 2019 when it ran out of money.
Still, as Hermida said with a small, sphinx-like smile: “I’m not a big fan.”
The canvassers seemed confused, which is how Hermida found himself in the position of edifying the representatives of Make It Legal Florida on their own initiative.
As he sees it, the two big problems are that the initiative doesn’t allow Floridians to grow their own, and it’s too oriented toward corporate interests, funded as it is by the cannabis companies Surterra and MedMen. Hermida holds an MBA and has spent nearly a decade in and around the industry. “I’m quite jaded at this point,” he says.
When you can’t even please the NORML guy…
Here’s the odd part: His position allies him with some of the state’s most conservative politicians, the wealthy white people who fund them, and also with some of Florida’s largest corporations, including Disney, which in 2017 banned legally possessed medical marijuana from its theme parks.
Odder still: Hermida, a card-carrying medical marijuana patient, is deputy director of the Central Florida chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the nation’s oldest and largest organization advocating for the legalization of adult-use cannabis.
A few days later officials with Make It Legal Florida announced they were suspending their campaign. Abandoning their quest for the Nov. 2020 ballot, they decided to regroup and aim for 2022.
If you’re seeking an explanation for the early demise of Florida’s leading 2020 legalization measure, here’s one answer: Not even the local NORML leader could support it.
But that’s hardly the whole story.
Welcome to Florida. Watch your wallet
Florida is famously weird. This is the state that all but invented kitsch and real-estate scams. It’s also a place that harbors pockets of calcified 1950s values. Special-interest sinkholes—often championed by the people in the center circle of a Venn diagram of the conservative, the white, and the aged—spout geysers of money.
With cannabis, it’s not always so obvious what’s going on. Oddball alliances and conflicting agendas require a flow chart to track.
There’s a scene in The Life of Brian, the Monty Python Biblical parody, that perfectly fits the situation in Florida. The protagonist, Brian, gently inquires of a group of locals whether they’re part of a rebellious outfit known as the Judean People’s Front. They scoff—they are, rather, part of a different resistance group, called the People’s Front of Judea. “The only people we hate more than the Romans,” says Reg (played by the great John Cleese), “are the fucking Judean People’s Front.”
Others begin naming of other traitorous outfits, such as the Judean Popular People’s Front. Caught up in the moment, a woman sitting off to the side then derisively calls out the People’s Front of Judea.
And after a beat, Reg looks at her. “We’re the People’s Front of Judea!”
“Oh,” she says. “I thought we were the Popular Front.”
When it comes to cannabis, that’s Florida.
Money drives the prohibitionist’s cause
On paper, Florida is a purple state—famously up for grabs in every election. It’s the state that immortalized the hanging chad.
It’s also sometimes referred to as “God’s waiting room” because more than one in five residents is 65 or older. That means its population is uniquely primed for the palliative benefits of cannabis.
But while redder states like Oklahoma have embraced medical marijuana with a fervor, many elected Republicans in Florida still treat it like a tax on fresh air and sunshine.
The reason? Money, of course.
Last of the red-hot drug warriors
Florida is home to some of the last remnants of the Reagan-era culture-war crowd, folks like deep-pocketed donors Mel and Betty Sembler, whose Drug Free America Foundation donated millions of dollars for billboards that helped defeat medical marijuana the first time it appeared on the ballot here in 2014.
The Semblers are lifelong marijuana foes. They’re credited with steering Nancy Reagan toward her infamous “Just Say No” campaign in the 1980s.
Now in their late 80s, the Semblers continue to be influential and deep-pocketed donors to Republican elected officials and candidates.
Meanwhile, billionaire casino magnate and Trump donor Sheldon Adelson also donated $5.5 million to defeat the 2014 proposal. (The state’s medical marijuana amendment finally passed in Nov. 2016.)
“Florida has been this proving ground for opposition campaigns that have real resources,” says Ben Pollara, a political consultant and campaign manager for United for Care in both 2014 and 2016.
Voters, meanwhile, are all about legalization
The state’s voters left no doubt about whether they stood on the matter in 2016—a constitutional amendment legalizing medical cannabis won more than 71 percent of the vote.
Despite that overwhelming plurality, then-Gov. Rick Scott and state legislators continued with their hot-faced opposition. In the summer of 2017, Scott signed a new law that prohibited patients from smoking medical marijuana.
The law was swiftly repealed last year, after Scott left office, but the legislature continued to wreak havoc with licensing process for the state’s dispensaries, known as Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTCs).
Most states allow growers to grow and retailers to open stores. Not Florida. The state decided its license holders had to do it all: grow the plants, package, brand, and sell the products in their own dispensaries. Each licensee could operate up to 25 retail locations, and add five more each time the state’s patient rolls increased by 100,000.
Only the wealthy need apply
That setup excluded all but the wealthiest applicants, only five of whom were given licenses during the first round in 2015. Florida then missed a deadline in 2017 to add 10 more.
The predictable result: lawsuits, and lots of them. “Dragging their feet is one way to describe it—it was very reluctantly allowing a few players to come in,” says Frazier, who filed one of the suits, on behalf of an orchid grower who was frozen out of the approval process. “It became a sort of cartel for who has clients with the best lobbyist in town.”
Sue & settle for a license
Florida state officials have largely capitulated in a number of the cases, simply to avoid losing in court. “The state basically said, ‘Sure, we’ll just settle with you and give you a license,” says Sally Peebles, an attorney with a deep history in Colorado’s legalization effort who serves on the state’s Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee.
Of the 22 MMTCs now listed on the state’s official website, 17 received licenses as a result of litigation. One Tallahassee judge called the state’s licensing process “a dumpster fire.”
No one here is happy that the process has devolved into a Judge Judy meme. Nor are they pleased by the fact that cannabis licensees must all, by definition, be big businesses. During his gubernatorial campaign, Ron DeSantis—a Republican—labeled the system a state-sponsored “cartel.” DeSantis is now the governor.
Market size: Huge and growing
Thanks to its size and muscular agricultural infrastructure, Florida now operates one of the nation’s largest medical marijuana markets. There are more than 300,000 registered patients here, more than in any other state.
Until recently, dispensaries also couldn’t sell smokeable canannabis flower. Then the state abruptly reversed course. Dispensaries began selling flower in April 2019, and patients now purchase more than 25,000 ounces every week.
“It’s always changing,” Blackman says. “One day something’s not allowed, and the next day you come in and it’s now okay.”
Fake FARMing in Florida
As proposals for recreational use have gained traction, the state’s fractious and conflicting forces have come into stark relief. Last December, in the midst of Make It Legal Florida’s frenzied petition push, an organization called Floridians Against Recreational Marijuana (FARM) suddenly appeared on the scene, claiming to represent various groups including “patients—such as veterans seeking affordable health care—and medical community professionals.”
It was clear from the start that the new group was powered by old culture-war Republicans.FARM never even bothered to post a website. The face of the organization was Brian Swensen, deputy campaign manager for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s last re-election bid. (Swensen did not return messages seeking comment.)
FARM’s prime benefactor was Pat Bainter, a secretive mega-donor whom the Gainesville Sun recently identified as “one of Florida’s most influential operatives in GOP politics” and someone who was named in the state’s gerrymandering scandal in 2012.
Another astroturf group pops up
More surprising was the announced opposition from an organization known as the Coalition for Medical Cannabis. According to its website, the not-for-profit outfit safeguards medical marijuana patients from the ravages of—wait for it—recreational marijuana.
When I contacted the CMC’s spokesman, Bob Ellsworth, he had lots to say about the dangers of recreational marijuana. Ellsworth, who has largely worked in public relations for a company called EM2P2, Inc., is also the creator of something called CannaLnx, a digital platform connecting patients, doctors, dispensaries, and other parties.
But are CannaLnx and the Coalition for Medical Cannabis real organizations?
ASA: ‘Never heard of them’
I asked Debbie Churgai, interim director of Americans for Safe Access, the nation’s oldest and largest advocacy group for medical cannabis patients, what she knew of the Florida group run by Ellsworth. Churgai said she was unaware that CMC existed until Leafly inquired. “I was surprised that I had never heard of them or that they had never reached out to us,” she says.
Ben Pollara, the longtime Florida legalization activist, offered a similar response. “I mean, if you’re a medical operator in the state of Florida, why would you be opposed to this?” he said of the adult-use measure. “The initiative specifically allows medical marijuana treatment centers to sell recreational marijuana. So I think it’s a pure political play from a smart political consultant who sees a payday that somebody’s going to get, and it might as well be him.”
Ben Pollara: ‘Obviously bullshit’
Pollara gave Ellsworth credit for a creative play.
“At a time when the popularity of these initiatives is increasing on a day by day basis, the old tactics of how to kill one of these initiatives have got to shift,” he said. “Then I guess potentially an interesting angle for trying to kill legalization is trying to triangulate like this. Which is obviously bullshit. Because everybody who’s involved and active in the space knows that for all the potential detriments to the medical cannabis system caused by legalization, there’s probably far more benefit to the overall population.”
In particular, the availability of adult-use cannabis could benefit patients who can’t afford the $300 a year it costs in Florida for caregiver appointments and a state-issued medical marijuana identification card.
Diana Dodson is a longtime medical marijuana patient and board member of the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a national group based in Santa Cruz, California. She says she favors full legalization and deregulation. “While the medical community certainly has hard-won our gains as far as safe access to our medicine,” she says, “I don’t believe anyone in the medical community seriously wishes to hamper legalization.”
Tallahassee pols raise roadblocks
Foiled by court rulings and a public embracing the end of prohibition, Florida’s legislators last year came up with other ways to monkeywrench the forward march of legalization.
As Make It Legal Florida pressed forward collecting signatures, legislative leaders hosted a series of “experts” to broadcast fear-mongering messages before official committees in Tallahassee.
Even more effective, at least in the short term, was a law hurriedly passed last year that created new obstacles and tighter timelines for petitioners. The new law required that county elections supervisors verify signatures within 30 days of receiving them—effectively shaving a full month off the deadline for submitting petitions.
New obstacles led to crisis
Scrambling to collect the required 766,200 signatures ahead of what they called this new “stealth deadline,” Make It Legal Florida officials sued the state in Leon County Circuit Court on December 31, asking for more time. At that point the campaign had secured about 250,000 signatures, about one-third of the total they’d need by Feb. 1, 2020, to make the fall ballot.
Realizing they were far short of the necessary signatures, facing staunch opposition from state leaders, and unable to bet on a favorable ruling out of Leon County, organizers of the Make It Legal Florida campaign huddled to discuss their narrowing path forward.
On January 13, just two weeks after filing the Leon County lawsuit, Make It Legal Florida announced it was suspending the 2020 campaign.
Nick Hansen, campaign chairman, said supporters would instead aim to put the issue on the 2022 ballot.
“The narrow timeframe to submit and verify those signatures has prompted our committee to shift focus to now gain ballot access in 2022,” Hansen said. “We’re looking forward to Supreme Court review of our efforts and working in collaboration with state leaders to ensure the supermajority of Floridians’ voices are heard.”
A few days later, state Senator Jeff Brandes introduced a bill proposing to legalize adult-use cannabis, using language similar to that of the Make It Legal Florida campaign. It didn’t go far.
Meanwhile, medical marijuana continues to grow
For those who hold some of the highly coveted licenses to run a medical marijuana dispensaries, there’s little bemoaning the chaos that has otherwise engulfed the state. They’re too busy running booming companies.
Fluent, a Miami-based company with about 230 employees, runs a cultivation facility in Tampa. After becoming one of the state’s original five licensees in 2015, the company quickly ramped up under owner and CEO Jose Javier Hidalgo, a high-energy Venezuelan-born businessman with a background in real estate. Fluent renovated an indoor lettuce growing facility east of downtown into a state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot cannabis growhouse.
MMJ license holders have a huge head start
Touring Fluent’s operation in the context of the most of the rest of the state’s would-be growers is like watching a competitive runner who’s been allowed to start a marathon an hour ahead of the field. In the main growing area, plants are stacked vertically in six layers that reach 22 feet high. The longest layer accommodates 108 pallets, and there are 36 plants per pallet. A team of trained plant technicians and scientists ministers to each plant, scrutinizing their light, water, and supply of nutrients. Another room holds another room of young plants from which staff makes a thousand cuts a week. The place is spotless.
Every four to six months, Hidalgo says, his team refreshes the genetics of the company’s array of plants. And they scrutinize data from each harvest to maximize each strain’s qualities—an effort spearheaded by a scientist that Fluent poached from Mars, the chocolate giant.
Faster than the speed of light
Hidalgo, a blur of upbeat energy who is based out of Fluent headquarters in Miami, greets the crew at the Tampa with thunderclap handshakes and bro hugs. He then heads downtown to one of Fluent’s retail stores. The space is sleek and minimalist—it’s a former jewelry boutique—washed in a clean white, the words “We speak cannabis” greeting customers as they’re ushered past reception. Each of the four consultation counters is numbered using glowing LED lighting from within, in the style of science-fiction stories that Hidalgos loves.
How would Fluent change if recreational passed? Hidalgo keeps close tabs on happenings in Tallahassee. “Thank God politics is not our thing,” he says. “That would be exhausting. We’re just focused on giving the absolute best product to our customers.”
But change is a given in the industry, and Fluent builds with an eye toward staying nimble: “I always say, the speed of cannabis is faster than the speed of light.”
93% growth in 2019
For the few allowed into the game, there is much growth to come. According to Leafly’s annual jobs report, sales in Florida’s medical marijuana industry increased 93% in 2019. The state now boasts the nation’s largest medical marijuana patient community, with more than 300,000 card holders. As Hidalgo puts it, “We’re in the second inning of this industry.”
Indeed, despite the moneyed and entrenched resistance to legalization, there are many more innings to be played here—and, this being Florida, many more screwballs to be thrown. And remember this: Florida’s first try at medical marijuana failed too. See you in 2022.
Florida, man: Why 2020 legalization failed in the Sunshine State
In late 2019, there were two viable adult-use legalization measures vying for a place on the Nov. 2020 ballot. By the end of January, both were dead. What happened?
If you want to understand how surreal things have become on Florida’s winding and rutted path to full legalization, you might hang out at Carlos Hermida’s Chillum Glass Gallery and CBD Dispensary in Tampa.
Hermida’s shop is located on 7th Avenue in the historic Ybor City neighborhood, a kind of Bourbon Street lite: The strip leans hard into the touristic appetite for cigars, tattoos, and hookah pipes.
Hermida, who occupies a storefront a few doors down from Coyote Ugly, is a burly man with an amiable vibe and a bushy black beard just beginning to bleed gray. His space is packed with all kinds of merch, from pipes to apparel. A chalkboard advertises CDB blunts among its line of $5 specials. As one might expect, Hermida is in favor of expanding Florida’s medical marijuana program to incorporate recreational use.
Or let’s say that he’s in favor of it in spirit. When canvassers for Make It Legal Florida—the organization behind a proposed constitutional amendment legalizing adult use—showed up in early January asking permission to gather signatures by his entrance, he told them no.
Looking for a medical marijuana doctor? Find one in Florida
‘I’m not a big fan’
At the time, Make It Legal Florida, which understandably avoids using an acronym, was the last of two proposals left standing with ambitions for the statewide ballot in 2020. The other one folded in late 2019 when it ran out of money.
Still, as Hermida said with a small, sphinx-like smile: “I’m not a big fan.”
The canvassers seemed confused, which is how Hermida found himself in the position of edifying the representatives of Make It Legal Florida on their own initiative.
As he sees it, the two big problems are that the initiative doesn’t allow Floridians to grow their own, and it’s too oriented toward corporate interests, funded as it is by the cannabis companies Surterra and MedMen. Hermida holds an MBA and has spent nearly a decade in and around the industry. “I’m quite jaded at this point,” he says.
When you can’t even please the NORML guy…
Here’s the odd part: His position allies him with some of the state’s most conservative politicians, the wealthy white people who fund them, and also with some of Florida’s largest corporations, including Disney, which in 2017 banned legally possessed medical marijuana from its theme parks.
Odder still: Hermida, a card-carrying medical marijuana patient, is deputy director of the Central Florida chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the nation’s oldest and largest organization advocating for the legalization of adult-use cannabis.
A few days later officials with Make It Legal Florida announced they were suspending their campaign. Abandoning their quest for the Nov. 2020 ballot, they decided to regroup and aim for 2022.
If you’re seeking an explanation for the early demise of Florida’s leading 2020 legalization measure, here’s one answer: Not even the local NORML leader could support it.
But that’s hardly the whole story.
Welcome to Florida. Watch your wallet
Florida is famously weird. This is the state that all but invented kitsch and real-estate scams. It’s also a place that harbors pockets of calcified 1950s values. Special-interest sinkholes—often championed by the people in the center circle of a Venn diagram of the conservative, the white, and the aged—spout geysers of money.
With cannabis, it’s not always so obvious what’s going on. Oddball alliances and conflicting agendas require a flow chart to track.
There’s a scene in The Life of Brian, the Monty Python Biblical parody, that perfectly fits the situation in Florida. The protagonist, Brian, gently inquires of a group of locals whether they’re part of a rebellious outfit known as the Judean People’s Front. They scoff—they are, rather, part of a different resistance group, called the People’s Front of Judea. “The only people we hate more than the Romans,” says Reg (played by the great John Cleese), “are the fucking Judean People’s Front.”
Others begin naming of other traitorous outfits, such as the Judean Popular People’s Front. Caught up in the moment, a woman sitting off to the side then derisively calls out the People’s Front of Judea.
And after a beat, Reg looks at her. “We’re the People’s Front of Judea!”
“Oh,” she says. “I thought we were the Popular Front.”
When it comes to cannabis, that’s Florida.
Money drives the prohibitionist’s cause
On paper, Florida is a purple state—famously up for grabs in every election. It’s the state that immortalized the hanging chad.
It’s also sometimes referred to as “God’s waiting room” because more than one in five residents is 65 or older. That means its population is uniquely primed for the palliative benefits of cannabis.
But while redder states like Oklahoma have embraced medical marijuana with a fervor, many elected Republicans in Florida still treat it like a tax on fresh air and sunshine.
The reason? Money, of course.
Last of the red-hot drug warriors
Florida is home to some of the last remnants of the Reagan-era culture-war crowd, folks like deep-pocketed donors Mel and Betty Sembler, whose Drug Free America Foundation donated millions of dollars for billboards that helped defeat medical marijuana the first time it appeared on the ballot here in 2014.
The Semblers are lifelong marijuana foes. They’re credited with steering Nancy Reagan toward her infamous “Just Say No” campaign in the 1980s.
Now in their late 80s, the Semblers continue to be influential and deep-pocketed donors to Republican elected officials and candidates.
Meanwhile, billionaire casino magnate and Trump donor Sheldon Adelson also donated $5.5 million to defeat the 2014 proposal. (The state’s medical marijuana amendment finally passed in Nov. 2016.)
“Florida has been this proving ground for opposition campaigns that have real resources,” says Ben Pollara, a political consultant and campaign manager for United for Care in both 2014 and 2016.
Voters, meanwhile, are all about legalization
The state’s voters left no doubt about whether they stood on the matter in 2016—a constitutional amendment legalizing medical cannabis won more than 71 percent of the vote.
Despite that overwhelming plurality, then-Gov. Rick Scott and state legislators continued with their hot-faced opposition. In the summer of 2017, Scott signed a new law that prohibited patients from smoking medical marijuana.
The law was swiftly repealed last year, after Scott left office, but the legislature continued to wreak havoc with licensing process for the state’s dispensaries, known as Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTCs).
Most states allow growers to grow and retailers to open stores. Not Florida. The state decided its license holders had to do it all: grow the plants, package, brand, and sell the products in their own dispensaries. Each licensee could operate up to 25 retail locations, and add five more each time the state’s patient rolls increased by 100,000.
Only the wealthy need apply
That setup excluded all but the wealthiest applicants, only five of whom were given licenses during the first round in 2015. Florida then missed a deadline in 2017 to add 10 more.
The predictable result: lawsuits, and lots of them. “Dragging their feet is one way to describe it—it was very reluctantly allowing a few players to come in,” says Frazier, who filed one of the suits, on behalf of an orchid grower who was frozen out of the approval process. “It became a sort of cartel for who has clients with the best lobbyist in town.”
Sue & settle for a license
Florida state officials have largely capitulated in a number of the cases, simply to avoid losing in court. “The state basically said, ‘Sure, we’ll just settle with you and give you a license,” says Sally Peebles, an attorney with a deep history in Colorado’s legalization effort who serves on the state’s Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee.
Of the 22 MMTCs now listed on the state’s official website, 17 received licenses as a result of litigation. One Tallahassee judge called the state’s licensing process “a dumpster fire.”
No one here is happy that the process has devolved into a Judge Judy meme. Nor are they pleased by the fact that cannabis licensees must all, by definition, be big businesses. During his gubernatorial campaign, Ron DeSantis—a Republican—labeled the system a state-sponsored “cartel.” DeSantis is now the governor.
Market size: Huge and growing
Thanks to its size and muscular agricultural infrastructure, Florida now operates one of the nation’s largest medical marijuana markets. There are more than 300,000 registered patients here, more than in any other state.
But the whole edifice continues to teeter. Keith Blackman manages VidaCann’s dispensary in Tampa, located in a modest strip mall on a busy street. He points out that dispensaries are currently not allowed to sell gummies—edibles don’t yet have regulatory approval—although they can offer vapes, tinctures, and other widely available products. That confuses customers.
Until recently, dispensaries also couldn’t sell smokeable canannabis flower. Then the state abruptly reversed course. Dispensaries began selling flower in April 2019, and patients now purchase more than 25,000 ounces every week.
“It’s always changing,” Blackman says. “One day something’s not allowed, and the next day you come in and it’s now okay.”
Fake FARMing in Florida
As proposals for recreational use have gained traction, the state’s fractious and conflicting forces have come into stark relief. Last December, in the midst of Make It Legal Florida’s frenzied petition push, an organization called Floridians Against Recreational Marijuana (FARM) suddenly appeared on the scene, claiming to represent various groups including “patients—such as veterans seeking affordable health care—and medical community professionals.”
It was clear from the start that the new group was powered by old culture-war Republicans.FARM never even bothered to post a website. The face of the organization was Brian Swensen, deputy campaign manager for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s last re-election bid. (Swensen did not return messages seeking comment.)
FARM’s prime benefactor was Pat Bainter, a secretive mega-donor whom the Gainesville Sun recently identified as “one of Florida’s most influential operatives in GOP politics” and someone who was named in the state’s gerrymandering scandal in 2012.
Another astroturf group pops up
More surprising was the announced opposition from an organization known as the Coalition for Medical Cannabis. According to its website, the not-for-profit outfit safeguards medical marijuana patients from the ravages of—wait for it—recreational marijuana.
The CMC’s slapped-together website possesses little information except for “research” about the dangers of adult-use marijuana generated by the Centennial Institute, a conservative think tank based at Colorado Christian University, a small private evangelical school based in a suburb of Denver. The CMC claims to be a national organization, but its “action alerts” make only vague references to Florida and Kentucky, and to working with Congress at a federal level.
When I contacted the CMC’s spokesman, Bob Ellsworth, he had lots to say about the dangers of recreational marijuana. Ellsworth, who has largely worked in public relations for a company called EM2P2, Inc., is also the creator of something called CannaLnx, a digital platform connecting patients, doctors, dispensaries, and other parties.
But are CannaLnx and the Coalition for Medical Cannabis real organizations?
ASA: ‘Never heard of them’
I asked Debbie Churgai, interim director of Americans for Safe Access, the nation’s oldest and largest advocacy group for medical cannabis patients, what she knew of the Florida group run by Ellsworth. Churgai said she was unaware that CMC existed until Leafly inquired. “I was surprised that I had never heard of them or that they had never reached out to us,” she says.
Ben Pollara, the longtime Florida legalization activist, offered a similar response. “I mean, if you’re a medical operator in the state of Florida, why would you be opposed to this?” he said of the adult-use measure. “The initiative specifically allows medical marijuana treatment centers to sell recreational marijuana. So I think it’s a pure political play from a smart political consultant who sees a payday that somebody’s going to get, and it might as well be him.”
Ben Pollara: ‘Obviously bullshit’
Pollara gave Ellsworth credit for a creative play.
“At a time when the popularity of these initiatives is increasing on a day by day basis, the old tactics of how to kill one of these initiatives have got to shift,” he said. “Then I guess potentially an interesting angle for trying to kill legalization is trying to triangulate like this. Which is obviously bullshit. Because everybody who’s involved and active in the space knows that for all the potential detriments to the medical cannabis system caused by legalization, there’s probably far more benefit to the overall population.”
In particular, the availability of adult-use cannabis could benefit patients who can’t afford the $300 a year it costs in Florida for caregiver appointments and a state-issued medical marijuana identification card.
Diana Dodson is a longtime medical marijuana patient and board member of the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a national group based in Santa Cruz, California. She says she favors full legalization and deregulation. “While the medical community certainly has hard-won our gains as far as safe access to our medicine,” she says, “I don’t believe anyone in the medical community seriously wishes to hamper legalization.”
Tallahassee pols raise roadblocks
Foiled by court rulings and a public embracing the end of prohibition, Florida’s legislators last year came up with other ways to monkeywrench the forward march of legalization.
As Make It Legal Florida pressed forward collecting signatures, legislative leaders hosted a series of “experts” to broadcast fear-mongering messages before official committees in Tallahassee.
Even more effective, at least in the short term, was a law hurriedly passed last year that created new obstacles and tighter timelines for petitioners. The new law required that county elections supervisors verify signatures within 30 days of receiving them—effectively shaving a full month off the deadline for submitting petitions.
New obstacles led to crisis
Scrambling to collect the required 766,200 signatures ahead of what they called this new “stealth deadline,” Make It Legal Florida officials sued the state in Leon County Circuit Court on December 31, asking for more time. At that point the campaign had secured about 250,000 signatures, about one-third of the total they’d need by Feb. 1, 2020, to make the fall ballot.
The following week, the state attorney general and leaders in the state House and Senate urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject the proposed constitutional amendment because the language on the ballot did not inform voters that cannabis would remain illegal under federal law.
Realizing they were far short of the necessary signatures, facing staunch opposition from state leaders, and unable to bet on a favorable ruling out of Leon County, organizers of the Make It Legal Florida campaign huddled to discuss their narrowing path forward.
On January 13, just two weeks after filing the Leon County lawsuit, Make It Legal Florida announced it was suspending the 2020 campaign.
Nick Hansen, campaign chairman, said supporters would instead aim to put the issue on the 2022 ballot.
“The narrow timeframe to submit and verify those signatures has prompted our committee to shift focus to now gain ballot access in 2022,” Hansen said. “We’re looking forward to Supreme Court review of our efforts and working in collaboration with state leaders to ensure the supermajority of Floridians’ voices are heard.”
A few days later, state Senator Jeff Brandes introduced a bill proposing to legalize adult-use cannabis, using language similar to that of the Make It Legal Florida campaign. It didn’t go far.
Meanwhile, medical marijuana continues to grow
For those who hold some of the highly coveted licenses to run a medical marijuana dispensaries, there’s little bemoaning the chaos that has otherwise engulfed the state. They’re too busy running booming companies.
Fluent, a Miami-based company with about 230 employees, runs a cultivation facility in Tampa. After becoming one of the state’s original five licensees in 2015, the company quickly ramped up under owner and CEO Jose Javier Hidalgo, a high-energy Venezuelan-born businessman with a background in real estate. Fluent renovated an indoor lettuce growing facility east of downtown into a state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot cannabis growhouse.
MMJ license holders have a huge head start
Touring Fluent’s operation in the context of the most of the rest of the state’s would-be growers is like watching a competitive runner who’s been allowed to start a marathon an hour ahead of the field. In the main growing area, plants are stacked vertically in six layers that reach 22 feet high. The longest layer accommodates 108 pallets, and there are 36 plants per pallet. A team of trained plant technicians and scientists ministers to each plant, scrutinizing their light, water, and supply of nutrients. Another room holds another room of young plants from which staff makes a thousand cuts a week. The place is spotless.
Every four to six months, Hidalgo says, his team refreshes the genetics of the company’s array of plants. And they scrutinize data from each harvest to maximize each strain’s qualities—an effort spearheaded by a scientist that Fluent poached from Mars, the chocolate giant.
Faster than the speed of light
Hidalgo, a blur of upbeat energy who is based out of Fluent headquarters in Miami, greets the crew at the Tampa with thunderclap handshakes and bro hugs. He then heads downtown to one of Fluent’s retail stores. The space is sleek and minimalist—it’s a former jewelry boutique—washed in a clean white, the words “We speak cannabis” greeting customers as they’re ushered past reception. Each of the four consultation counters is numbered using glowing LED lighting from within, in the style of science-fiction stories that Hidalgos loves.
How would Fluent change if recreational passed? Hidalgo keeps close tabs on happenings in Tallahassee. “Thank God politics is not our thing,” he says. “That would be exhausting. We’re just focused on giving the absolute best product to our customers.”
But change is a given in the industry, and Fluent builds with an eye toward staying nimble: “I always say, the speed of cannabis is faster than the speed of light.”
93% growth in 2019
For the few allowed into the game, there is much growth to come. According to Leafly’s annual jobs report, sales in Florida’s medical marijuana industry increased 93% in 2019. The state now boasts the nation’s largest medical marijuana patient community, with more than 300,000 card holders. As Hidalgo puts it, “We’re in the second inning of this industry.”
Indeed, despite the moneyed and entrenched resistance to legalization, there are many more innings to be played here—and, this being Florida, many more screwballs to be thrown. And remember this: Florida’s first try at medical marijuana failed too. See you in 2022.
elykpeace
exVASted
Not to say ray won't try these sneaky tactics when he sits in that senate seat ... I hope someone /anyone runs against him
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Full article on this...with no pay wall
And this is just sad...what is the matter with you people in FL? : "Rep. Rodrigues is the prohibitive favorite to win his Senate race."
All this guy wants to do is thwart your expressed democratic will. sigh
Florida Senate kills THC cap for medical marijuana; House concedes
The House last week approved a THC cap for medical marijuana. It only would have applied to minors.
But the chronologically limited proposal, on what had been an unrelated health care bill, hit a Senate roadblock.
And that was the end of this year’s quest to cap THC levels in cannabis, even as the Senate passed the bill 39-0.
House members previously approved a Rep. Ray Rodrigues amendment (434551) to HB 713 that would resuscitate a 10% cap on whole flower and derivatives for patients under 21.
A Senate amendment from cannabis proponent Sen. Jeff Brandes would have struck that out. But that amendment wasn’t needed.
On Friday, taking up the bill finally, a strike all amendment from Sen. Gayle Harrell removed the THC cap and the language refining other provisions related to medical marijuana, a concession to Brandes.
Rodrigues confirmed that the cannabis language was stripped by the Senate when asked in the House, before the bill was passed unanimously.
In the short term, at least, the amendment validated Brandes, who had said the Senate must “hold the line.”
“Florida has turned the corner on medical cannabis,” Brandes said last month, noting that in the Senate, there is “broad support against the cap.”
HB 713 was previously unrelated to medical marijuana, but House Speaker José Oliva, whose family is in the cigar business, defended the House targeting THC for kids last week.
“We really want to see THC caps,” Oliva added, “particularly for minors, some limitation on the types of chemicals that could possibly be detrimental to a young brain.”
The issue, dormant much of the Legislative Session, was sparked anew last month when Oliva suggested a cap for flower and derivatives was a “priority.”
Senate President Bill Galvano noted that the cap “was considered and it did not have the votes to pass.”
2021 may be a better year for the THC cap in the Senate, however.
Rep. Rodrigues is the prohibitive favorite to win his Senate race.
And this is just sad...what is the matter with you people in FL? : "Rep. Rodrigues is the prohibitive favorite to win his Senate race."
All this guy wants to do is thwart your expressed democratic will. sigh
Florida Senate kills THC cap for medical marijuana; House concedes
The House last week approved a THC cap for medical marijuana. It only would have applied to minors.
But the chronologically limited proposal, on what had been an unrelated health care bill, hit a Senate roadblock.
And that was the end of this year’s quest to cap THC levels in cannabis, even as the Senate passed the bill 39-0.
House members previously approved a Rep. Ray Rodrigues amendment (434551) to HB 713 that would resuscitate a 10% cap on whole flower and derivatives for patients under 21.
A Senate amendment from cannabis proponent Sen. Jeff Brandes would have struck that out. But that amendment wasn’t needed.
On Friday, taking up the bill finally, a strike all amendment from Sen. Gayle Harrell removed the THC cap and the language refining other provisions related to medical marijuana, a concession to Brandes.
Rodrigues confirmed that the cannabis language was stripped by the Senate when asked in the House, before the bill was passed unanimously.
In the short term, at least, the amendment validated Brandes, who had said the Senate must “hold the line.”
“Florida has turned the corner on medical cannabis,” Brandes said last month, noting that in the Senate, there is “broad support against the cap.”
HB 713 was previously unrelated to medical marijuana, but House Speaker José Oliva, whose family is in the cigar business, defended the House targeting THC for kids last week.
“We really want to see THC caps,” Oliva added, “particularly for minors, some limitation on the types of chemicals that could possibly be detrimental to a young brain.”
The issue, dormant much of the Legislative Session, was sparked anew last month when Oliva suggested a cap for flower and derivatives was a “priority.”
Senate President Bill Galvano noted that the cap “was considered and it did not have the votes to pass.”
2021 may be a better year for the THC cap in the Senate, however.
Rep. Rodrigues is the prohibitive favorite to win his Senate race.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Florida Supreme Court to hold arguments remotely on recreational and medical marijuana issues
The Florida Supreme Court for the first time will hear arguments via teleconferencing as a precaution because of the coronavirus outbreak, the court announced Tuesday.
The arguments scheduled for May 6 include an advisory opinion on whether a recreational marijuana ballot proposal can go before voters in 2022. Justices will also hear arguments on whether the state's tight regulation of the medical marijuana industry violates the state constitution.
Justices and lawyers will connect online from separate locations, and the proceedings will be livestreamed on the court’s website and Facebook page.
The Florida Supreme Court for the first time will hear arguments via teleconferencing as a precaution because of the coronavirus outbreak, the court announced Tuesday.
The arguments scheduled for May 6 include an advisory opinion on whether a recreational marijuana ballot proposal can go before voters in 2022. Justices will also hear arguments on whether the state's tight regulation of the medical marijuana industry violates the state constitution.
Justices and lawyers will connect online from separate locations, and the proceedings will be livestreamed on the court’s website and Facebook page.
Florida Officials Oppose Ballot Proposal To Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis
State officials in Florida who are attempting to block a constitutional amendment ballot initiative that would legalize adult-use cannabis have filed briefs that explain their legal arguments with the state Supreme Court. Lawyers for the Republican-controlled state Senate and Attorney General Ashley Moody outlined their position against the initiative supported by Make It Legal Florida in the legal briefs filed on Monday.
Lawyers for the Senate are basing their argument on a new state law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this month. The law contains several provisions designed to make it more difficult to amend Florida’s constitution through a ballot initiative, including requiring more signatures before a mandated Supreme Court review is triggered.
The Senate lawyers argue that another provision of the law that requires the Supreme Court to consider whether initiatives are “facially invalid under the United States Constitution” is cause to block the legalization amendment, writing that marijuana’s status as a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law supersedes state law under the Supremacy Clause.
“The passage of (the new law) clarifies the scope of the court’s review and opens the door for the court to consider the inability to comport with federal law,” Senate attorneys wrote in the brief. “Because the initiative is facially invalid under the U.S. Constitution, the court should remove it from the ballot.”
State Attorney General Also Opposes Initiative
Moody’s office also filed a brief that opposes the initiative from Make It Legal Florida, which announced in January that it was delaying the legalization effort until the 2022 election. But the attorney general’s argument isn’t based on the controversial law, instead relying on an existing statute that bans ballot initiatives from misleading voters. The brief notes that the Make It Legal Florida initiative’s wording says that the amendment “permits” the possession, sale, transportation, and use of marijuana.
“If approved, however, the initiative would not ‘permit’ such activities: Federal law prohibits the possession, sale, transportation, or use of marijuana, and the proposed amendment would not undo or override that law,” lawyers in Moody’s office wrote.
The attorney general’s office also noted that the Supreme Court need not rely on the new law that tightens the regulations on amendment initiatives, arguing that the misleading language in the legalization initiative is cause enough to block it from the ballot.
“Because the misleading ballot language provides an adequate and independent ground for resolving this case, the (Supreme) Court need not – and, based on traditional principles of judicial restraint, should not – address the facial validity of the proposed amendment under the United States Constitution,” the brief reads.
In a January filing that anticipated Moody’s position, lawyers for Make It Legal Florida argued against the claim that the initiative is misleading.
“Under this (Supreme) Court’s precedent, ballot summaries are not required to recite the current state of federal law, or an amendment’s effect on federal law,” the attorneys wrote in the brief. “Nor must a ballot summary remind voters that they are voting to amend Florida’s Constitution rather than federal statutes. … Florida voters do not require a lesson in these elementary civics principles, especially having voted on marijuana amendments in two out of the last three election cycles.”
The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments about the Make It Legal Florida initiative on May 6.
State officials in Florida who are attempting to block a constitutional amendment ballot initiative that would legalize adult-use cannabis have filed briefs that explain their legal arguments with the state Supreme Court. Lawyers for the Republican-controlled state Senate and Attorney General Ashley Moody outlined their position against the initiative supported by Make It Legal Florida in the legal briefs filed on Monday.
Lawyers for the Senate are basing their argument on a new state law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this month. The law contains several provisions designed to make it more difficult to amend Florida’s constitution through a ballot initiative, including requiring more signatures before a mandated Supreme Court review is triggered.
The Senate lawyers argue that another provision of the law that requires the Supreme Court to consider whether initiatives are “facially invalid under the United States Constitution” is cause to block the legalization amendment, writing that marijuana’s status as a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law supersedes state law under the Supremacy Clause.
“The passage of (the new law) clarifies the scope of the court’s review and opens the door for the court to consider the inability to comport with federal law,” Senate attorneys wrote in the brief. “Because the initiative is facially invalid under the U.S. Constitution, the court should remove it from the ballot.”
State Attorney General Also Opposes Initiative
Moody’s office also filed a brief that opposes the initiative from Make It Legal Florida, which announced in January that it was delaying the legalization effort until the 2022 election. But the attorney general’s argument isn’t based on the controversial law, instead relying on an existing statute that bans ballot initiatives from misleading voters. The brief notes that the Make It Legal Florida initiative’s wording says that the amendment “permits” the possession, sale, transportation, and use of marijuana.
“If approved, however, the initiative would not ‘permit’ such activities: Federal law prohibits the possession, sale, transportation, or use of marijuana, and the proposed amendment would not undo or override that law,” lawyers in Moody’s office wrote.
The attorney general’s office also noted that the Supreme Court need not rely on the new law that tightens the regulations on amendment initiatives, arguing that the misleading language in the legalization initiative is cause enough to block it from the ballot.
“Because the misleading ballot language provides an adequate and independent ground for resolving this case, the (Supreme) Court need not – and, based on traditional principles of judicial restraint, should not – address the facial validity of the proposed amendment under the United States Constitution,” the brief reads.
In a January filing that anticipated Moody’s position, lawyers for Make It Legal Florida argued against the claim that the initiative is misleading.
“Under this (Supreme) Court’s precedent, ballot summaries are not required to recite the current state of federal law, or an amendment’s effect on federal law,” the attorneys wrote in the brief. “Nor must a ballot summary remind voters that they are voting to amend Florida’s Constitution rather than federal statutes. … Florida voters do not require a lesson in these elementary civics principles, especially having voted on marijuana amendments in two out of the last three election cycles.”
The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments about the Make It Legal Florida initiative on May 6.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Florida justices consider recreational marijuana ballot amendment
The political committee Make It Legal Florida is seeking to put a pot measure on the 2022 ballot but needs the Supreme Court to sign off on the ballot title and summary.
With Attorney General Ashley Moody, lawmakers and groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce trying to block the measure, the state Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments about a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow people to use recreational marijuana.
The political committee Make It Legal Florida is seeking to put the proposal on the 2022 ballot but needs the Supreme Court to sign off on the ballot title and summary — the wording that voters would see when they go to the polls.
State Solicitor General Amit Agarwal, representing Moody, argued Wednesday that the Supreme Court should reject the proposal because it would be misleading to voters. Agarwal focused, in part, on wording in the ballot summary that says the amendment “permits adults 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason.”
Agarwal said that is misleading because such things as possession and purchase of marijuana would remain illegal under federal laws.
“Voters should be told the truth,” Agarwal said. “They should be given the tools that they need to make a fully informed decision on this ballot initiative. Voters right now are told, expressly and unqualifiedly, that the proposed amendment would permit something that it quite simply would not permit.”
But George Levesque, an attorney for Make It Legal Florida, said the proposal “piggybacks” on a system resulting from a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in the state. He also said the ballot summary would clearly present the purpose of the amendment to voters.
“We believe the text of our proposed amendment, and the summary that describes it, accurately, clearly and unambiguously informs the voter of what we are trying to do,” he told The News Service of Florida after the arguments. “In this case, to permit limited amounts of marijuana to be given to adults and for adults to be able to use that marijuana for any purpose that they need it for.”
During the arguments, Levesque also disputed that the summary would be misleading because of federal laws that make marijuana illegal.
“We’re changing the only constitution that we can change,” Levesque said. “The only law we can change is Florida law.”
The Supreme Court plays a critical role in determining whether proposed constitutional amendments can go before voters. It is not supposed to consider the merits of proposals but looks at whether they meet legal standards such as not being misleading.
Make It Legal Florida initially planned to try to put its proposal on the 2020 ballot but pushed it back to 2022 because the committee could not meet a Feb. 1 deadline for submitting a required 766,200 valid petition signatures. It had submitted 553,975 signatures as of Wednesday morning, according to the state Division of Elections website.
In addition to Agarwal, attorneys for the Florida Senate and coalitions of groups, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the St. Petersburg-based Drug Free America Foundation, argued against the proposed amendment Wednesday. The Florida House also has submitted briefs against the proposal but did not take part in oral arguments.
Justices asked numerous questions of attorneys on both sides of the issue. It is unclear when the court will rule on the amendment, though decisions typically take months.
The recreational-marijuana case was the first time that the Supreme Court has held arguments through a videoconference system. The court made the move because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Chief Justice Charles Canady has ordered most proceedings at lower courts to also be held through videoconferences or by telephone.
The political committee Make It Legal Florida is seeking to put a pot measure on the 2022 ballot but needs the Supreme Court to sign off on the ballot title and summary.
With Attorney General Ashley Moody, lawmakers and groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce trying to block the measure, the state Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments about a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow people to use recreational marijuana.
The political committee Make It Legal Florida is seeking to put the proposal on the 2022 ballot but needs the Supreme Court to sign off on the ballot title and summary — the wording that voters would see when they go to the polls.
State Solicitor General Amit Agarwal, representing Moody, argued Wednesday that the Supreme Court should reject the proposal because it would be misleading to voters. Agarwal focused, in part, on wording in the ballot summary that says the amendment “permits adults 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason.”
Agarwal said that is misleading because such things as possession and purchase of marijuana would remain illegal under federal laws.
“Voters should be told the truth,” Agarwal said. “They should be given the tools that they need to make a fully informed decision on this ballot initiative. Voters right now are told, expressly and unqualifiedly, that the proposed amendment would permit something that it quite simply would not permit.”
But George Levesque, an attorney for Make It Legal Florida, said the proposal “piggybacks” on a system resulting from a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in the state. He also said the ballot summary would clearly present the purpose of the amendment to voters.
“We believe the text of our proposed amendment, and the summary that describes it, accurately, clearly and unambiguously informs the voter of what we are trying to do,” he told The News Service of Florida after the arguments. “In this case, to permit limited amounts of marijuana to be given to adults and for adults to be able to use that marijuana for any purpose that they need it for.”
During the arguments, Levesque also disputed that the summary would be misleading because of federal laws that make marijuana illegal.
“We’re changing the only constitution that we can change,” Levesque said. “The only law we can change is Florida law.”
The Supreme Court plays a critical role in determining whether proposed constitutional amendments can go before voters. It is not supposed to consider the merits of proposals but looks at whether they meet legal standards such as not being misleading.
Make It Legal Florida initially planned to try to put its proposal on the 2020 ballot but pushed it back to 2022 because the committee could not meet a Feb. 1 deadline for submitting a required 766,200 valid petition signatures. It had submitted 553,975 signatures as of Wednesday morning, according to the state Division of Elections website.
In addition to Agarwal, attorneys for the Florida Senate and coalitions of groups, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the St. Petersburg-based Drug Free America Foundation, argued against the proposed amendment Wednesday. The Florida House also has submitted briefs against the proposal but did not take part in oral arguments.
Justices asked numerous questions of attorneys on both sides of the issue. It is unclear when the court will rule on the amendment, though decisions typically take months.
The recreational-marijuana case was the first time that the Supreme Court has held arguments through a videoconference system. The court made the move because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Chief Justice Charles Canady has ordered most proceedings at lower courts to also be held through videoconferences or by telephone.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Florida Supreme Court Considers Cannabis Legalization Proposal
The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday challenging a proposed ballot measure that would legalize the recreational use of cannabis in the state. If approved by voters, the initiative constitutional amendment would legalize the use of marijuana by adults and establish a regulatory framework for commercial cannabis cultivation and sales.
Make It Legal Florida, the political committee championing the legalization ballot initiative, is currently collecting signatures in an effort to qualify the proposal for the 2022 election. But before that can happen, the state Supreme Court must approve the language of the initiative’s title and ballot summary, although the court does not rule on the merits of the proposal.
Several parties, including lawyers from the Florida attorney general’s office, attorneys for the Republican-controlled state Senate, and the Florida Chamber of Congress, are opposed to the measure and argued against it in Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing. State Solicitor General Amit Agarwal, representing Attorney General Ashley Moody, told the justices that they should reject the proposal because the measure’s summary, which is printed on the election ballots, is misleading to voters.
Opponents Cite Conflict With Federal Law
Agarwal told the court that the summary says that the amendment “permits adults 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason.”
But since marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, Agarwal argued the court should not allow the initiative to be placed on the ballot.
“Voters should be told the truth,” he said. “They should be given the tools that they need to make a fully informed decision on this ballot initiative. Voters right now are told, expressly and unqualifiedly, that the proposed amendment would permit something that it quite simply would not permit.”
George Levesque, an attorney for the Make It Legal Florida campaign, argued that the federal prohibition on marijuana does not make the initiative misleading.
“We’re changing the only constitution that we can change,” Levesque said. “The only law we can change is Florida law.”
Levesque told local media after Wednesday’s arguments that Florida’s 2016 initiative legalizing medical marijuana serves as a precedent for the current recreational cannabis proposal’s language. He also said that the ballot summary would not be confusing to the state’s voters.
“We believe the text of our proposed amendment, and the summary that describes it, accurately, clearly and unambiguously informs the voter of what we are trying to do,” Levesque said. “In this case, to permit limited amounts of marijuana to be given to adults and for adults to be able to use that marijuana for any purpose that they need it for.”
Campaign Seeks More Signatures
Make It Legal Florida had originally hoped to qualify the ballot proposal for this year’s general election in November but announced in January that it would delay the effort until the 2022 election. So far, the group has submitted 553,975 of the 766,200 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
During oral arguments on Wednesday, the Supreme Court justices directed several questions to lawyers representing both sides of the proposal. A date for the court’s ruling has not been announced, but it is likely to be several months before the justices hand down their decision.
The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday challenging a proposed ballot measure that would legalize the recreational use of cannabis in the state. If approved by voters, the initiative constitutional amendment would legalize the use of marijuana by adults and establish a regulatory framework for commercial cannabis cultivation and sales.
Make It Legal Florida, the political committee championing the legalization ballot initiative, is currently collecting signatures in an effort to qualify the proposal for the 2022 election. But before that can happen, the state Supreme Court must approve the language of the initiative’s title and ballot summary, although the court does not rule on the merits of the proposal.
Several parties, including lawyers from the Florida attorney general’s office, attorneys for the Republican-controlled state Senate, and the Florida Chamber of Congress, are opposed to the measure and argued against it in Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing. State Solicitor General Amit Agarwal, representing Attorney General Ashley Moody, told the justices that they should reject the proposal because the measure’s summary, which is printed on the election ballots, is misleading to voters.
Opponents Cite Conflict With Federal Law
Agarwal told the court that the summary says that the amendment “permits adults 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason.”
But since marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, Agarwal argued the court should not allow the initiative to be placed on the ballot.
“Voters should be told the truth,” he said. “They should be given the tools that they need to make a fully informed decision on this ballot initiative. Voters right now are told, expressly and unqualifiedly, that the proposed amendment would permit something that it quite simply would not permit.”
George Levesque, an attorney for the Make It Legal Florida campaign, argued that the federal prohibition on marijuana does not make the initiative misleading.
“We’re changing the only constitution that we can change,” Levesque said. “The only law we can change is Florida law.”
Levesque told local media after Wednesday’s arguments that Florida’s 2016 initiative legalizing medical marijuana serves as a precedent for the current recreational cannabis proposal’s language. He also said that the ballot summary would not be confusing to the state’s voters.
“We believe the text of our proposed amendment, and the summary that describes it, accurately, clearly and unambiguously informs the voter of what we are trying to do,” Levesque said. “In this case, to permit limited amounts of marijuana to be given to adults and for adults to be able to use that marijuana for any purpose that they need it for.”
Campaign Seeks More Signatures
Make It Legal Florida had originally hoped to qualify the ballot proposal for this year’s general election in November but announced in January that it would delay the effort until the 2022 election. So far, the group has submitted 553,975 of the 766,200 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
During oral arguments on Wednesday, the Supreme Court justices directed several questions to lawyers representing both sides of the proposal. A date for the court’s ruling has not been announced, but it is likely to be several months before the justices hand down their decision.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
FL, the state that just keeps on giving...haha
Personally, I very much do not like FL's implementation. I do like MD's and other states better as in MD we have separate licenses for growers, processors, dispensaries, and labs. However, our politicians and bureaucrats left loopholes in laws/regs that is allowing massive consolidation where none was supposed to be. They use "management contracts" as a way to get around the law. e.i. I'll give you, independent dispensary, $3M cash and you sign a management contract with us where you continue to hold the license but I run it and get like 99% of the revenue. See what I'm saying. And the corp lawyers are still running rings around our state government and cannabis regulatory commission. Its all BS and continues to reinforce my view of general government incompetence....but that's libertarian me.
How Vertical Integration Is Ruining Medical Cannabis In Florida
Florida’s medical cannabis marketplace is based on the vertical integration of participating companies; this can be good for regulators and tax dollars, but very bad for patients and consumers.
Florida is a fully vertically integrated state, and this has had some pretty massive impact on the way the legal cannabis market has grown in the state. Here in the Sunshine State the powers that be have implemented a system in which all cannabis companies are their own grower, processor, and distribution channels under one corporate entity with zero allowance for cooperation or subcontracting outside of some very special cases of outside products being licensed for production with one of the currently licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment centers (MMTC, Florida’s term for these vertical cannabis companies).
Evidence of the system’s shortcomings can be found in a number of places and has permeated every corner of the “green rush” here.
Licensing
The first place to look for a clue as to the effects of a government-forced cartel system is in the market itself, based on the numbers available from the Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use. The numbers tell us two different stories: one of a stifled market with little incentive for innovation or growth, and one of an industry held back by regulations.
When looking at the effects vertical integration has had on the market itself, the most glaring thing is the limited number of licenses. Florida started with only eight licenses, then approved four more, then another four, and eventually culminating in the 22 currently licensed operators. Of those 22, only 13 are currently producing and dispensing products. This is nearly four years after 71.3% of Floridians voted for Amendment 2, legalizing medical cannabis here in the Sunshine State. This is fewer license operators than states significantly smaller, and newer to the legal market. Vertical Integration has created a government-regulated monopoly virtually free from competition, entrepreneurship, and many of the jobs and opportunities normally associated with a growing industry.
Brian Vincente of Vincente Sederberg LLC said in an interview for Cannabis Business Times, “By mandating that anyone that’s allowed to do either of those activities needs to own both, you’re basically limiting yourself to rich people that can enter the market. I think that’s a negative thing in terms of promoting economic and racial diversity in this new industry.” The point was further evidenced with the original licensure requirement of 30 years in business as a commercial nursery, which has since been ruled unconstitutional.
Product availability
The second major effect that can be seen from these numbers is the lack of product availability and the slow rollout of normally available delivery methods. Florida started with only CBD available. When dispensaries first began opening a few months later they could only sell CBD over the counter and had to sell THC by delivery only. For the first three years of legalization, Floridians were only allowed concentrates and tinctures. It took a lawsuit from Cathy Jordan to get Floridians the right to use whole flower cannabis, which also led to a near doubling of the market.
In case it didn’t jump out immediately, yes that said Florida was legal for three years before whole flower medication was available, and further cements the first downside by being the largest and most blatant constraint on the industry. The industry was effectively kept at 50% of its capacity for the first three years.
Florida still doesn’t have edibles and even faced a push this year by state legislator Gayle Harrell to cap cannabis products at 10% total THC.
Limitations of vertical integration
Outside of the numbers available for Florida specifically, the effects of vertical integration can be seen across the industry in nearly every state. Cannabis titan MedMen has been one of the most successful marijuana firms to date, pushing the vertical integration model for the last several years. In the last 18 months though, they have been among the hardest hit by a trend of market corrections, culminating in Interim CEO Ryan Lissack telling CNN that, “While vertical integration has been a big focus in the industry, our growing belief is that cannabis is evolving like every other consumer vertical: with a fragmented value chain and specialists at each layer.”
As other states are legalizing cannabis for medical and adult-use purposes across the country, Florida is still dragging its feet on things that should be a given when discussing medical marijuana. As the major players nationally, and internationally, are moving away from the large mega-corporations and vertical operations, Floridians are still stuck with limited product options from a state-mandated oligopoly. While there is nothing wrong with successful businesses diversifying into other segments of the supply chain, the evidence suggests that forcing this model onto the industry at large creates a stifled industry that lacks competition, small businesses, and the need for innovation. Specialization is the future, and it’s currently the one thing Florida lacks.
Personally, I very much do not like FL's implementation. I do like MD's and other states better as in MD we have separate licenses for growers, processors, dispensaries, and labs. However, our politicians and bureaucrats left loopholes in laws/regs that is allowing massive consolidation where none was supposed to be. They use "management contracts" as a way to get around the law. e.i. I'll give you, independent dispensary, $3M cash and you sign a management contract with us where you continue to hold the license but I run it and get like 99% of the revenue. See what I'm saying. And the corp lawyers are still running rings around our state government and cannabis regulatory commission. Its all BS and continues to reinforce my view of general government incompetence....but that's libertarian me.
How Vertical Integration Is Ruining Medical Cannabis In Florida
Florida’s medical cannabis marketplace is based on the vertical integration of participating companies; this can be good for regulators and tax dollars, but very bad for patients and consumers.
Florida is a fully vertically integrated state, and this has had some pretty massive impact on the way the legal cannabis market has grown in the state. Here in the Sunshine State the powers that be have implemented a system in which all cannabis companies are their own grower, processor, and distribution channels under one corporate entity with zero allowance for cooperation or subcontracting outside of some very special cases of outside products being licensed for production with one of the currently licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment centers (MMTC, Florida’s term for these vertical cannabis companies).
Evidence of the system’s shortcomings can be found in a number of places and has permeated every corner of the “green rush” here.
Licensing
The first place to look for a clue as to the effects of a government-forced cartel system is in the market itself, based on the numbers available from the Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use. The numbers tell us two different stories: one of a stifled market with little incentive for innovation or growth, and one of an industry held back by regulations.
When looking at the effects vertical integration has had on the market itself, the most glaring thing is the limited number of licenses. Florida started with only eight licenses, then approved four more, then another four, and eventually culminating in the 22 currently licensed operators. Of those 22, only 13 are currently producing and dispensing products. This is nearly four years after 71.3% of Floridians voted for Amendment 2, legalizing medical cannabis here in the Sunshine State. This is fewer license operators than states significantly smaller, and newer to the legal market. Vertical Integration has created a government-regulated monopoly virtually free from competition, entrepreneurship, and many of the jobs and opportunities normally associated with a growing industry.
Brian Vincente of Vincente Sederberg LLC said in an interview for Cannabis Business Times, “By mandating that anyone that’s allowed to do either of those activities needs to own both, you’re basically limiting yourself to rich people that can enter the market. I think that’s a negative thing in terms of promoting economic and racial diversity in this new industry.” The point was further evidenced with the original licensure requirement of 30 years in business as a commercial nursery, which has since been ruled unconstitutional.
Product availability
The second major effect that can be seen from these numbers is the lack of product availability and the slow rollout of normally available delivery methods. Florida started with only CBD available. When dispensaries first began opening a few months later they could only sell CBD over the counter and had to sell THC by delivery only. For the first three years of legalization, Floridians were only allowed concentrates and tinctures. It took a lawsuit from Cathy Jordan to get Floridians the right to use whole flower cannabis, which also led to a near doubling of the market.
In case it didn’t jump out immediately, yes that said Florida was legal for three years before whole flower medication was available, and further cements the first downside by being the largest and most blatant constraint on the industry. The industry was effectively kept at 50% of its capacity for the first three years.
Florida still doesn’t have edibles and even faced a push this year by state legislator Gayle Harrell to cap cannabis products at 10% total THC.
Limitations of vertical integration
Outside of the numbers available for Florida specifically, the effects of vertical integration can be seen across the industry in nearly every state. Cannabis titan MedMen has been one of the most successful marijuana firms to date, pushing the vertical integration model for the last several years. In the last 18 months though, they have been among the hardest hit by a trend of market corrections, culminating in Interim CEO Ryan Lissack telling CNN that, “While vertical integration has been a big focus in the industry, our growing belief is that cannabis is evolving like every other consumer vertical: with a fragmented value chain and specialists at each layer.”
As other states are legalizing cannabis for medical and adult-use purposes across the country, Florida is still dragging its feet on things that should be a given when discussing medical marijuana. As the major players nationally, and internationally, are moving away from the large mega-corporations and vertical operations, Floridians are still stuck with limited product options from a state-mandated oligopoly. While there is nothing wrong with successful businesses diversifying into other segments of the supply chain, the evidence suggests that forcing this model onto the industry at large creates a stifled industry that lacks competition, small businesses, and the need for innovation. Specialization is the future, and it’s currently the one thing Florida lacks.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
"“You’re seeing increasing percentages of THC in marijuana. This is not your granddaddy’s marijuana from the ‘60s.”
So fucking what....and what exactly is her first hand, informed experience with MJ, eh?
Florida May Make Telehealth Services For Medical Marijuana Patients Permanent
Telehealth services that were made available to Florida’s medical marijuana patients due to the coronavirus pandemic may become a permanent option.
That’s according to the web publication Florida Politics, which reported this week that the temporary provision first established at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak—and then extended in May—might become a fixture in the state’s medical cannabis program.
The state’s Department of Health unveiled emergency rules back in March that allowed licensed physicians in Florida to see their patients and issue prescriptions remotely. The state’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis extended telehealth services for medical marijuana patients another 60 days in May. Now, with the provision set to expire this week—and the coronavirus experiencing a resurgence in states such as Florida—some advocates think it needs to be extended indefinitely.
“It’s excellent for the patients, convenience-wise, safety-wise and in a lot of other ways,” Barry Gordon, a former physician in Ohio who now owns a cannabis clinic in Venice, Florida, told Florida Politics. “The majority of the patients can find that they can integrate it into their lifestyle in an appropriate way and don’t need a lot of further medical advice.”
Gordon continued: “Those types of things are easily done in a [telehealth] consultation. I like to call it being a 2020 doctor and not adopting a 1980 philosophy. We don’t know how long this COVID-19 crisis is going to last…. . It just makes sense. It’s a different society now.”
Holly Bell, director of cannabis for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told the website that a decision on the telehealth option will be made in consultation with the Department of Agriculture. Florida Politics noted that a “permanent change in the medical cannabis statute will have to be amended and will likely require legislative action to allow for permanent telehealth options.”
The Sunshine State and Medical Cannabis
Florida’s medical marijuana program was established four years ago, when more than 70 percent of voters in the state approved a measure legalizing the treatment. Earlier this year, just prior to the pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures, the Florida legislature took up a bill that aimed to ban medical marijuana with THC levels exceeding 10 percent potency for patients under the age of 21.
The measure’s chief proponent, Republican state Sen. Gayle Harrell, took issue with the state’s current law, arguing that it caps THC at levels far greater than what most patients would need to consume.
“I have been very concerned about this,” Harrell told the Miami Herald. “You’re seeing increasing percentages of THC in marijuana. This is not your granddaddy’s marijuana from the ‘60s.”
Residents in the Sunshine State will have to wait a bit longer before legal recreational weed lands within their borders. An effort to get a recreational weed proposal on this year’s ballot fell short, and the advocates behind the effort have now shifted their focus to the 2022 ballot.
Still, there’s good reason to believe that Floridians are ready for the change. A Quinnipiac University poll released last summer found that 65 percent of voters there support legalizing possession of pot for personal use.
So fucking what....and what exactly is her first hand, informed experience with MJ, eh?
Florida May Make Telehealth Services For Medical Marijuana Patients Permanent
Telehealth services that were made available to Florida’s medical marijuana patients due to the coronavirus pandemic may become a permanent option.
That’s according to the web publication Florida Politics, which reported this week that the temporary provision first established at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak—and then extended in May—might become a fixture in the state’s medical cannabis program.
The state’s Department of Health unveiled emergency rules back in March that allowed licensed physicians in Florida to see their patients and issue prescriptions remotely. The state’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis extended telehealth services for medical marijuana patients another 60 days in May. Now, with the provision set to expire this week—and the coronavirus experiencing a resurgence in states such as Florida—some advocates think it needs to be extended indefinitely.
“It’s excellent for the patients, convenience-wise, safety-wise and in a lot of other ways,” Barry Gordon, a former physician in Ohio who now owns a cannabis clinic in Venice, Florida, told Florida Politics. “The majority of the patients can find that they can integrate it into their lifestyle in an appropriate way and don’t need a lot of further medical advice.”
Gordon continued: “Those types of things are easily done in a [telehealth] consultation. I like to call it being a 2020 doctor and not adopting a 1980 philosophy. We don’t know how long this COVID-19 crisis is going to last…. . It just makes sense. It’s a different society now.”
Holly Bell, director of cannabis for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told the website that a decision on the telehealth option will be made in consultation with the Department of Agriculture. Florida Politics noted that a “permanent change in the medical cannabis statute will have to be amended and will likely require legislative action to allow for permanent telehealth options.”
The Sunshine State and Medical Cannabis
Florida’s medical marijuana program was established four years ago, when more than 70 percent of voters in the state approved a measure legalizing the treatment. Earlier this year, just prior to the pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures, the Florida legislature took up a bill that aimed to ban medical marijuana with THC levels exceeding 10 percent potency for patients under the age of 21.
The measure’s chief proponent, Republican state Sen. Gayle Harrell, took issue with the state’s current law, arguing that it caps THC at levels far greater than what most patients would need to consume.
“I have been very concerned about this,” Harrell told the Miami Herald. “You’re seeing increasing percentages of THC in marijuana. This is not your granddaddy’s marijuana from the ‘60s.”
Residents in the Sunshine State will have to wait a bit longer before legal recreational weed lands within their borders. An effort to get a recreational weed proposal on this year’s ballot fell short, and the advocates behind the effort have now shifted their focus to the 2022 ballot.
Still, there’s good reason to believe that Floridians are ready for the change. A Quinnipiac University poll released last summer found that 65 percent of voters there support legalizing possession of pot for personal use.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Florida Adds Edibles to Medical Cannabis Program
New emergency rules in Florida allow for the manufacturing and sale of medical cannabis-infused edibles. The rules take effect immediately.
The Florida Department of Health quietly approved emergency rules on Wednesday night that establish a regulatory framework for the manufacturing and distribution of medical cannabis-infused edibles, the Miami Herald reports.
The edibles rules are reminiscent of other medical cannabis programs: products cannot be brightly-colored or made into shapes that could be considered appealing to children, they must be properly packaged, and they must not resemble any existing, commercially available candies or other products. The Health Department, which oversees Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use, will require edibles manufacturers to acquire annual food permits costing up to $650 per year.
Allowed edibles products include lozenges, gelatins, baked goods, chocolates, and drink powders.
The edibles rules have been a long time coming — Florida, which voted to legalize medical cannabis four years ago, only just allowed for smoking cannabis products last year.
Cannabis company Trulieve, which operates dozens of dispensaries around the state, said in a Thursday morning press release that the company had prepared a 10,000 square-foot commercial-grade kitchen at its production facility in Quincy for edibles manufacturing. The release also announced new partnerships with specialty edible brands Binske, Bhang, District Edibles, and Love’s Oven.
New emergency rules in Florida allow for the manufacturing and sale of medical cannabis-infused edibles. The rules take effect immediately.
The Florida Department of Health quietly approved emergency rules on Wednesday night that establish a regulatory framework for the manufacturing and distribution of medical cannabis-infused edibles, the Miami Herald reports.
The edibles rules are reminiscent of other medical cannabis programs: products cannot be brightly-colored or made into shapes that could be considered appealing to children, they must be properly packaged, and they must not resemble any existing, commercially available candies or other products. The Health Department, which oversees Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use, will require edibles manufacturers to acquire annual food permits costing up to $650 per year.
Allowed edibles products include lozenges, gelatins, baked goods, chocolates, and drink powders.
The edibles rules have been a long time coming — Florida, which voted to legalize medical cannabis four years ago, only just allowed for smoking cannabis products last year.
Cannabis company Trulieve, which operates dozens of dispensaries around the state, said in a Thursday morning press release that the company had prepared a 10,000 square-foot commercial-grade kitchen at its production facility in Quincy for edibles manufacturing. The release also announced new partnerships with specialty edible brands Binske, Bhang, District Edibles, and Love’s Oven.
Ryan Scotson, the co-founder of CannaMD — a network of Florida doctors who can make medical cannabis recommendations — said Thursday morning that the company has already issued Florida’s first medical marijuana edibles certification and that they “couldn’t be more excited to finally make this route of administration available to patients.”
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Florida’s Cannabis Industry Is About To Change In a Big Way
New Laws Mean That The Florida Cannabis Industry Could See Some Large Shifts
The Floridian cannabis industry is one of the fastest-growing areas for marijuana stock growth. With several leading pot stocks being based out of the state, many believe that Florida has solid long term potential. When we talk about Florida’s cannabis industry, the marijuana stocks that reside there are mostly MSO pot stocks. These companies operate dispensaries in many states, with Florida being one of those. On August 31st, big news hit about a recent legislative update to Florida’s cannabis law. The state decided to legalize the production and sale of THC-infused edibles such as cookies, candies and baked goods.
The rule, which is deemed as an “emergency rule” has several stipulations within it. One of these states that the products must be sold in geometric forms so that there are little to no resemblances with popular candies. This is a rule made to help protect those who may accidentally ingest the substance without knowing that it is cannabis. Some marijuana stocks that benefit from edibles like KushCo Holdings Inc. (OTC:KSHB) and Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE:CGC) may be able to see an uptick in sales because of this. With that in mind, here are two pot stocks that could benefit from the new law.
The Most Popular Marijuana Stock in Florida
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (OTC:TCNNF) is one of the most popular marijuana stocks with a large presence in Florida’s cannabis industry. While many other MSO pot stocks to watch have focused on expanding broadly, TCNNF stock has benefitted from the company’s choice to focus heavily on Florida. Because of this specialization, TCNNF stock has been able to grow right alongside the Floridian cannabis industry. And given that the state has yet to go full rec, there seems to be a great deal of future potential for TCNNF stock.
Many other MSO pot stocks like Green Thumb Industries Inc. (OTC:GTBIF), have large presences in the U.S., but none have a more advantageous position in Florida than Trulieve. In addition, the company has shown some very solid financials in the face of Covid based hardships. In its most recent second quarter, Trulieve reported an increase in revenue of around 109% over the previous year. With the new update to Florida’s laws, this number could potentially grow even more in the near future.
Another Key Floridian Marijuana Stock
Liberty Health Sciences Inc. (OTC:LHSIF) is another one of the leading marijuana stocks with a big presence in Florida. The company states that it is a vertically integrated producer and retailer of marijuana. The company reportedly has as much as 250,000 square feet of grow space which is enough to produce a very large quantity of cannabis. LHSIF stock remains in a very solid position as there are only a few competitors in this area of Florida’s cannabis industry.
The company has also consistently been able to push its customer base by 50% year over year which is quite substantial. LHSIF stock has also been able to grow due to the growing number of those who use cannabis in Florida. If the state chooses to go full rec, LHSIF stock would sit alongside TCNNF stock in terms of future potential. But, as a major player in Florida, Liberty Health could be a solid pot stock to watch given this recent update to the legislation surrounding cannabis in Florida.
New Laws Mean That The Florida Cannabis Industry Could See Some Large Shifts
The Floridian cannabis industry is one of the fastest-growing areas for marijuana stock growth. With several leading pot stocks being based out of the state, many believe that Florida has solid long term potential. When we talk about Florida’s cannabis industry, the marijuana stocks that reside there are mostly MSO pot stocks. These companies operate dispensaries in many states, with Florida being one of those. On August 31st, big news hit about a recent legislative update to Florida’s cannabis law. The state decided to legalize the production and sale of THC-infused edibles such as cookies, candies and baked goods.
The rule, which is deemed as an “emergency rule” has several stipulations within it. One of these states that the products must be sold in geometric forms so that there are little to no resemblances with popular candies. This is a rule made to help protect those who may accidentally ingest the substance without knowing that it is cannabis. Some marijuana stocks that benefit from edibles like KushCo Holdings Inc. (OTC:KSHB) and Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE:CGC) may be able to see an uptick in sales because of this. With that in mind, here are two pot stocks that could benefit from the new law.
The Most Popular Marijuana Stock in Florida
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (OTC:TCNNF) is one of the most popular marijuana stocks with a large presence in Florida’s cannabis industry. While many other MSO pot stocks to watch have focused on expanding broadly, TCNNF stock has benefitted from the company’s choice to focus heavily on Florida. Because of this specialization, TCNNF stock has been able to grow right alongside the Floridian cannabis industry. And given that the state has yet to go full rec, there seems to be a great deal of future potential for TCNNF stock.
Many other MSO pot stocks like Green Thumb Industries Inc. (OTC:GTBIF), have large presences in the U.S., but none have a more advantageous position in Florida than Trulieve. In addition, the company has shown some very solid financials in the face of Covid based hardships. In its most recent second quarter, Trulieve reported an increase in revenue of around 109% over the previous year. With the new update to Florida’s laws, this number could potentially grow even more in the near future.
Another Key Floridian Marijuana Stock
Liberty Health Sciences Inc. (OTC:LHSIF) is another one of the leading marijuana stocks with a big presence in Florida. The company states that it is a vertically integrated producer and retailer of marijuana. The company reportedly has as much as 250,000 square feet of grow space which is enough to produce a very large quantity of cannabis. LHSIF stock remains in a very solid position as there are only a few competitors in this area of Florida’s cannabis industry.
The company has also consistently been able to push its customer base by 50% year over year which is quite substantial. LHSIF stock has also been able to grow due to the growing number of those who use cannabis in Florida. If the state chooses to go full rec, LHSIF stock would sit alongside TCNNF stock in terms of future potential. But, as a major player in Florida, Liberty Health could be a solid pot stock to watch given this recent update to the legislation surrounding cannabis in Florida.
CarolKing
Always in search of the perfect vaporizer
Florida: Newly Enacted Rules Permit Sales of Cannabis-Infused Edibles
The rules, enacted last Wednesday, take immediate effect. Infused products produced in accordance with the new rules cannot be designed or marketed in a manner that would be appealing to children and must not resemble any commercially available candy products. Companies that wish to produce cannabis edibles must obtain a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Edibles Food Establishment Permit from state officials.
Nearly 400,000 Floridians are registered with the state to access medical cannabis under the law, which voters passed in 2016.
Brownies
soldemar
chocoluvs
- BY NORML
- POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
The rules, enacted last Wednesday, take immediate effect. Infused products produced in accordance with the new rules cannot be designed or marketed in a manner that would be appealing to children and must not resemble any commercially available candy products. Companies that wish to produce cannabis edibles must obtain a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Edibles Food Establishment Permit from state officials.
Nearly 400,000 Floridians are registered with the state to access medical cannabis under the law, which voters passed in 2016.
Brownies
soldemar
chocoluvs
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Baron23
Well-Known Member
What is the future of legal marijuana in Florida?
A high-profile vote in Congress has some Florida officials pondering that question.TALLAHASSEE — The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to decriminalize marijuana. Most Democrats supported the bill that would enact that change. Most Republicans did not. The bill is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate.
Was Congress’ historic vote an early sign of momentum to legalize marijuana across the United States? Or is was it a low-stakes move on a splashy issue that’s unlikely to go anywhere?
Florida is home to plenty who are interested in the answer.
“We talk all the time on the right about the need to empower people and empower states,” U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said in an impassioned speech on the House floor in support of the bill, the MORE Act. “Right now, the federal policy on cannabis constrains our people. It limits our states.”
Gaetz, who helped author Florida’s very first medical marijuana program as a state representative in 2014, was one of just five Republicans to support the bill. Another Florida Republican, Brian Mast, R-Palm City, also voted for the measure. Mast’s office did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
In addition to essentially legalizing marijuana at the federal level, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act establishes a federal tax on cannabis products. That tax money would be set aside in a trust fund for people and businesses that have been affected by the federal war on drugs. A 2020 study by the American Civil Liberties Union showed that Black Americans are nearly four times more likely than white Americans to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite using the drug at a similar rate.
The MORE Act, if signed into law, would also start a formal process for expunging federal marijuana convictions. People serving federal sentences for cannabis-related crimes would get review hearings.
It’s unclear how many Floridians are in federal prison for marijuana-related crimes. But FBI data showed that in 2018, 40 percent of all state and local drug arrests were for marijuana-related offenses. More than 90 percent of those arrests were for possession, according to the Pew Research Center.
As long as Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decides which bills reach the Senate floor for a vote, the MORE Act is unlikely to become law. Even if a legalization bill did get a vote in the Senate, it wouldn’t get any support from Florida. The Sunshine State’s two U.S. Senators, Republicans Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, do not support the federal legalization of marijuana, according to the senators’ offices.
Despite legalization’s murky federal prospects, State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said Congress’ action on Friday is evidence of an unstoppable surge of momentum for legalization.
“The writing is on the wall, A growing movement of Americans understand how archaic the Federal marijuana laws are,” Brandes wrote in a text message Monday.
Florida, in some ways, is a microcosm of the uncomfortable tug-of-war between the will of voters and largely conservative lawmakers who don’t favor drug legalization. In 2016, voters overwhelmingly approved a state Constitutional amendment that greatly expanded the state’s medical marijuana program, which at the time was limited to low-THC cannabis for children with severe epilepsy.
The state implemented that program at a glacial pace at first. It wasn’t until 2019 that the state Legislature legalized medical marijuana in a form for smoking. It wasn’t until this year that the state Department of Health formed rules for edible medical marijuana. In the four years since the medical marijuana amendment passed, regulators have handed out 22 licenses under the program.
Florida House leaders have also attempted multiple times to limit THC — the euphoria-inducing compound in marijuana — in products sold in medical marijuana dispensaries.
Despite the government’s slow movement, Florida dispensaries have nearly 450,000 patients, and the state’s medical marijuana industry is worth around $1 billion.
As the 2020 election season fades into 2022, cannabis advocates plan to try once again to get a Constitutional amendment before voters legalizing recreational marijuana. Make It Legal Florida, a campaign backed by two of the largest medical marijuana companies in the state, is proposing an amendment that would allow “adults 21 years or older to possess, use, purchase, display, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and marijuana accessories for personal use for any reason.”
The amendment allows for existing medical marijuana companies to sell the recreational pot, which has drawn criticism from patients who worried about giving more power to the license-holders and would prefer a more open market that could bring down prices.
The group has collected about 555,000 signatures in its effort to get the proposed amendment on the 2022 ballot. It will need a few hundred thousand more to make the ballot. (The total number of required signatures is based on the turnout of the most recent presidential election.)
Earlier this year, Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office argued before the Florida Supreme Court that the language of the proposed amendment is unconstitutional. State Solicitor General Amit Agarwal said the amendment’s language is misleading, because it does not say that marijuana is still illegal federally.
If the MORE Act were to become law, marijuana would no longer be illegal federally. The Florida Supreme Court has not yet issued an opinion on the ballot initiative.
A second, older ballot initiative led by regulation attorney Michael Minardi had less corporate backing and gathered fewer signatures. The ballot language proposed by his group, Sensible Florida, would allow for a more open market and would legalize home-grown medical marijuana. Minardi’s effort failed to garner enough signatures to make it on the 2020 ballot, but it is listed as active for 2022 on the state’s election website.
Brandes, who has introduced state legislation in the past to legalize marijuana, said if the Legislature doesn’t take action, voters will likely pass a 2022 legalization referendum. A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center showed that two in three Americans favor legalization.
The leaders of the Florida Legislature do not share the voters’ enthusiasm for the idea. When asked at a November news conference whether legalizing recreational marijuana would get serious consideration during the 2021 legislative session, Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, gave a single-word reply.
“No,” Simpson said.
If I was a betting gal..... I'd pick 'low-stakes move on a splashy issue.'
Florida Lawmakers Pushing For Cannabis Law Changes And Reform
Lawmakers in the Sunshine State are trying to make the future brighter for those who use cannabis.One pair of Florida lawmakers is aiming to improve the state’s existing medical marijuana law, while another legislative duo is out to change the state’s relationship with pot altogether.
Taken together, 2021 could be a year of cannabis reform in the Sunshine State.
A proposal from state Senator Tina Polsky and state Representative Nicholas Duran, both Democrats representing South Florida, would close a loophole in the state’s medical cannabis law that still opens the door for public employees to get fired for using the treatment.
“So you’re allowed to use medical marijuana if you have a proper license but if you get drug tested at work having nothing to do with your performance you can be fired for using a legal substance,” Polsky said, as quoted by local news outlet WLRN.
According to WLRN, the bill “would prevent public employers from firing, demoting, or suspending someone who tests positive” if they can show a valid medical marijuana card after a positive result.
“In the event someone takes a drug test and they test positive for marijuana they should be able to sort of explain and show that they are registered,” said Duran, as quoted by WLRN. “That they are using medical marijuana and that’s the reason why their drug test came back positive for it”
Other Potential Changes
Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 that legalized medical cannabis, but recreational pot use remains against the law. Two other Sunshine State lawmakers have their own legislation to change that.State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat, and state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican, have filed separate bills that would “establish a robust and free-market regulatory approach to the governance of cultivation, processing, and retail sales of both medical and adult-use marijuana,” according to local news outlet WESH.
As in other stands that have lifted prohibition on pot use, the bills would permit people aged 21 and older to purchase and use pot. WESH reported that Guillermo Smith and Brandes’ proposals “would allow adults to purchase 2.5 ounces of cannabis or a product with up to 2 grams of THC.”
“The need to end Florida’s prohibition of responsible adult use of cannabis is long overdue. This bill creates a sensible bipartisan framework for legalization that can earn the support needed to pass the Florida legislature. It doesn’t include everything I’d like to see, but it’s the fresh start Floridians deserve to finally move past the draconian cannabis prohibition era,” Guillermo Smith said, as quoted by WESH.
In a tweet on Friday, Guillermo Smith shared a graphic detailing the potential economic windfall from legalization, saying that the new marijuana law could help Florida “avoid unnecessary cuts to public schools and healthcare services.”
Legalization advocates in Florida had hoped to get a recreational proposal on the state’s ballot last year, but the group that spearheaded the campaign was unable to mount a successful petition drive.
Polls indicate that such a measure would have passed at the ballot. But a bill that emerges from the Florida legislature, which officially convenes in March, may not be as successful. That’s because the state’s governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, has previously said that legalizationwill not happen on his watch.
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