The Florida governor signed a bill last month that was little noticed. It expanded medical marijuana advertising restrictions and manufacturing restrictions, prohibiting any products or messaging that promotes “recreational cannabis use”, while adding stricter eligibility requirements for industry workers.
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Cannabis manufacturers and retailers are now prohibited from producing or advertising products that appeal to children or promote the recreational use of cannabis. Prior to the new law, it was not explicitly prohibited that non-medical uses be promoted. The restrictions were only applicable to infused edibles.
The law does not define what is meant by promoting recreational use. The new rule, which became effective on 1 July, could conflict with the proposed constitutional amendment that advocates and stakeholders in the industry are trying to place on the ballot for 2024 to legalize adult use marijuana.
The newly passed law would have to be changed or overturned by the courts for violating a constitutional protection of adult-use marijuana.
Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) is claiming that voters are too stupid to see through the monopolistic legalization push of the Marijuana Company. Ashley Moody, the Republican Attorney General of Florida, argues that voters can be trusted to know state legalization won’t affect federal prohibition.
Although the court invalidated an earlier measure of legalization, advocates are confident they have learned from the experience and created an initiative that meets all legal requirements necessary for ballot placement. Oral arguments could be scheduled soon in this case.
DeSantis’ bill will likely also cause a reduction in the number of workers eligible to work in the industry.
This is done by eliminating exemptions to employment background checks for felonies committed after three years, misdemeanors once they have completed their sentence, felonies which have now been reduced to misdemeanors by statute, and crimes that would be felonies had they been committed by adults after the three-year mark.
The law also expands background screening to all employees of medical cannabis testing laboratories, not just the owners and managers. The law also requires that the fees for federal fingerprinting and retention be paid by medical cannabis businesses, not the individuals who are conducting the background checks.
The removal of exceptions to screening and the expansion of the requirements for cannabis enforcement could result in a less diverse workplace that excludes those historically affected by the drug-war at a moment when advocates are working to promote equity in the industry.
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DeSantis, for his part has stated that if he were elected to the Oval Office he would not criminalize marijuana. His record as a governor is also a mixed bag. He has taken steps to support the medical cannabis and hemp industries in Florida, but also made other efforts to enact restrictions.
The governor signed a law last month that prohibits the sale of hemp-based products, including cannabis “chewing-gum”, to anyone under 21. This is an extension of an earlier ban on youth being able purchase smokable marijuana.
DeSantis’ bill, signed in June, resulted in the recent awarding of two long-awaited licenses for medical marijuana businesses to Black farmers in Florida.
He signed separately a measure last month prohibiting sober living homes from allowing residents the possession or use of medical marijuana even if a patient is certified by their doctor to use cannabis therapeutically according to state law. All other pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors may still be allowed.
The outcome of the state Supreme Court’s ongoing case may determine whether Florida legalizes marijuana.
If voters approve the initiative, economic analysts in the Florida legislature and DeSantis’s office estimate the marijuana legalization measure would produce between $195.6 and $431.3 millions of new sales tax revenue each year. These figures could rise if legislators impose a similar excise tax to those in place in other states that have legalized cannabis.
A top Wisconsin Republican Lawmaker Plans to File a Medical Marijuana Bill “This Fall” As the State Becomes an Island of Prohibition
Photo by Philip Steffan.
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