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Florida Bill Would Regulate Delta-8 and Overhaul Medical Cannabis

Florida Bill Would Regulate Delta-8 and Overhaul Medical Cannabis

Florida bill would regulated Delta 8 THC and overhaul medical cannabis industry
A Florida bill seeks to place strict limits on delta-8 THC and overhaul the state’s medical cannabis program, which would include a new cannabis oversight agency and new rules preventing the sale of dispensary licenses for monetary gain.

bill in Florida would place strict limits on THC potency of synthetic and hemp extracts, such as delta-8 THC, and include other reforms to the state’s medical cannabis law, Florida Politics reports. The bill’s sponsors, Democratic Rep. Andrew Learned and Republican Rep.

Spencer Roach describe the proposal as the “first major update” to the state’s medical cannabis statute since voters approved the reforms five years ago.

Under the proposal, sales of hemp products designed for consumption, including delta-8 products, would only be permitted to individuals 21-and-older.

Additionally, the measure would increase the terms of medical cannabis patient licenses and the time between required doctor appointments, which the bill sponsors say combined would cut an estimated 60% of the cost of participation in the medical cannabis program.

It would also remove physician appointments for medical cannabis patient recertification under specific guidelines, allow recertification via telehealth, end the practice of selling medical cannabis dispensary licenses for monetary gain, create new industry testing requirements, and increase the transparency of state regulations.

Under the proposal, the course required by Florida for physicians that recommend medical cannabis would triple from two to six hours.

The bill was introduced on Monday November 29, but has not yet been moved to any committee.

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Florida Supreme Court Kills 2022 Marijuana Legalization Initiative

Florida Supreme Court Kills 2022 Marijuana Legalization Initiative

Florida cannabis legalization bill gets shot down in supreme court

The Florida Supreme Court has dealt a critical blow to marijuana activists working to legalize marijuana in the state—killing an initiative that hundreds of thousands of voters have already signed and forcing them to start all over again if they want to make the 2022 ballot.

In a 5-2 ruling on Thursday, the court determined that the Make It Legal Florida reform initiative is unconstitutional, arguing that the ballot summary is “affirmatively misleading” because it says adult-use cannabis would be made lawful in the state without explicitly acknowledging that it would remain illegal under federal law.

This means advocates would have to start over—from drafting the measure to collecting signatures—if they hope to make next year’s ballot.

The group had already collected 556,049 valid signatures for the now-invalidated constitutional measure. They needed 891,589 to place the initiative before voters. Then at least 60 percent of voters would’ve had to approve it on the ballot for it to pass.

The court took up a legal review of the initiative at the request of state Attorney General Ashley Moody’s (R) office, which then submitted a brief in opposition to the legalization petition.

At issue, the majority justices said in their ruling, is the use of the word “permits” in the ballot summary when referring to activities such as possessing and purchasing marijuana by adults 21 and older. Because the initiative fails to acknowledge that such activity would not be permissible under federal law, they deemed the summary “misleading” and therefore unconstitutional.

“The summary’s unqualified use of the word “[p]ermits” strongly suggests that the conduct to be authorized by the amendment will be free of any criminal or civil penalty in Florida… The proposed amendment, on the other hand, explains that the conduct will only be free of criminal or civil liability “under Florida law.” The proposed amendment includes that language, of course, because a recreational marijuana user or distributor will remain exposed to potential prosecution under federal law—no small matter.”

But in a dissenting opinion, two justices argued that it’s essentially self-evident that the measure would only apply to Florida law and not change federal statute prohibiting marijuana.

In a sense, the justices said there’s precedent in place that makes it incumbent upon voters to do their research and understand the fundamental implications of their votes. And in this case, they said, the majority is effectively saying voters cannot be trusted to understand basic governance.

Florida Marijuana Sales Ranks Third In Country for 2020

Florida Marijuana Sales Ranks Third In Country for 2020

Florida marijuana sales rank third in the country for 2020
Florida’s medical cannabis marketplace generated an estimated $1.3 billion in sales last year, ranking third in the country for 2020 cannabis sales.

Although Florida has just a medical cannabis system, the state emerged as one of the nation’s most active cannabis markets in 2020, according to the recent cannabis jobs report by Leafly and Whitney Economics.

Florida ranked third in the country for cannabis sales in 2020 with an estimated total reaching $1.3 billion, only behind Colorado and California, which both have adult-use cannabis markets and have had medical cannabis systems since the 1990s.

Home to 331 dispensaries spread across the state, Florida added 170,000 patients in 2020, bringing the total of registered patients to nearly a half million at 485,693. The state also added roughly 15,000 cannabis jobs in 2020, bringing the total number of Floridians employed by the medical cannabis sector to 31,444. The report suggests Florida’s cannabis receipts could easily double if the state adopted adult-use cannabis, estimating the potential for up to $2.1 billion in sales, $800,000 per month in taxes, and up to 80,000 local jobs by 2025.

“With a state population of nearly 22 million, Florida could reasonably double its current total of cannabis jobs if it chose to legalize for all adults.” — Excerpt from the Leafly and Whitney Economics job report

Despite the high sales numbers, Florida’s medical cannabis structure has led to some issues. Additionally, there are a handful of adult-use and medical cannabis reform bills currently stalled in the Florida legislature.

Currently, a case working its way through the courts seeks to overturn the state’s vertically integrated regulatory structure on grounds that it is unconstitutional, The Center Square reports. Already having won its challenge in Tallahassee District Court, the case will be considered next by the Florida Supreme Court on March 1.

At least one bill seeking to limit THC levels in medical cannabis products will reach committee consideration, however, setting up a potential contest between the growing cannabis prevention movement, a tax-hungry state budget, and medical cannabis patients.

The Future of Legal Cannabis in Florida

The Future of Legal Cannabis in Florida

legal cannabis in Florida

The passing of the MORE Act in the House has gotten Floridians talking about their future.

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.