A bill signed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott grants medical marijuana licenses to two Black farmers. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed the law into effect last month.
The legalization law of the state that was implemented in 2017, stipulated that a medical cannabis business licence needed to be given to a Black farm owner who is covered under the historic “Pigford”, involving alleged discriminatory lending practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Florida Department of Health only opened the application process for the special license last year. While regulators had announced that they intended to grant one to Terry Donnell Gwinn as a farmer, their action was delayed after other applicants raised legal and administrative challenges. This led lawmakers to pass HB 383, which mandates that the Department approve licenses for qualified applicants.
DeSantis approved the bill in December, and since then the department has granted licenses to two of the twelve people who applied for last year. Gwinn and Shedrick McGriff were given licenses by the governor.
“Mr. Gwinn and his team are excited to start the cultivation, processing, and dispensing of medical marijuana operations,” Gwinn’s attorney Jim McKee stated on Friday. The News Service of Florida published. “After receiving cultivation authorization, cultivation in his Alachua County facility will begin.”
A 90-day cure period is also allowed for applications that are found to be deficient.
Gwinn, a Black farmer told News Service that he had “lived our history in agriculture and felt the burden of the imbalances” we have suffered. “We are preparing to offer medical marijuana to patients who require it, and we’re doing so meticulously.”
DeSantis is the Republican candidate for president in 2024. He opposes legalizing adult-use marijuana and has stated that should he be elected to the Oval Office, he will not end prohibition. His record as governor was also mixed, with some examples where he took action to support the medical cannabis and hemp industry in Florida while making other decisions to restrict certain things.
DeSantis, earlier this month, signed a law that prohibits the sale of any consumable products — including cannabis “chewing-gum” — to people under 21. This is an extension of a previous prohibition against young people being allowed to buy smokable marijuana.
This month, the governor signed a separate measure prohibiting sober living homes from allowing their residents to possess or to use medical marijuana. Even if a patient has been certified by a physician to use cannabis therapeutically according to state law. All other pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors may still be allowed.
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The outcome of a state Supreme Court case could determine whether the governor has a say on legalization in Florida. The state certified recently that a petition collected enough valid signatures for the issue to be on the ballot next year. Florida Attorney-General Ashley Moody is challenging the measure and is urging the court to invalidate the measure as she has done with other reform initiatives.
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 if it is passed by voters. These figures could rise if legislators imposed an excise tax similar to those in place in other states that have legalized cannabis.
Colombian lawmakers introduce new Marijuana legalization bill one month after prior version was stalled
Photo by California State Fair.
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