In 2014, the Florida Legislature authorized the medical use of low-THC cannabis, the Charlotte’s Web strain, and directed the Florida Department of Health to authorize five “dispensing organizations” to provide patients with the drug.
Read MoreAs we blogged about in May 2019, a then-69-year-old great-grandmother was arrested at Disney World when an Orange County deputy found CBD oil in her purse. The incident received national attention and highlighted the confusion over federal and state laws surrounding cannabis and cannabis products.
Read MoreIn a rare move, the Supreme Court of Florida has asked for a second round of oral arguments in the Florigrown matter. As we wrote about here, this case will determine whether Florida’s medical marijuana licensing framework, which effectively requires vertical integration by each licensee, is constitutional.
Read MoreAs we arrive at the middle of June, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) has not issued any conditional adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses and, as we recently wrote about here, it may be a while before the licenses are issued. Nevertheless, those licenses will be issued eventually, and it is important that cannabis entrepreneurs begin evaluating their next steps.
Read MoreFor years we have been intrigued about the prospect of legal recreational marijuana in Florida—not a particularly far-fetched notion given the overwhelming support for Florida’s 2016 constitutional amendment broadly legalizing medical marijuana in the state.
Read MoreIt now appears that Floridians will not have the opportunity to legalize marijuana by ballot initiative in the upcoming 2020 election. Make it Legal Florida, the organization attempting to get the issue on the 2020 ballot, announced on Monday that they will not be able to secure enough petition signatures to qualify the issue for the election.
Read MoreFlorida legislators and Governor Ron DeSantis do not appear eager to legalize recreational marijuana. A bill to do so failed last year, and Governor DeSantis (who supports medical marijuana) has indicated he believes recreational marijuana has a “detrimental effect.” Nevertheless, advocates continue to work to move recreational marijuana forward via ballot initiative, and early returns appear promising.
Read MoreFlorida’s First District Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Florida Dept. of Health, et al. v. Florigrown, LLC, Case No. 1D18-4471, last week. The court’s ruling upended Florida’s medical marijuana industry by deeming the state’s current regulatory scheme—and by extension the cap on the number of licenses—unconstitutional.
Read MoreGovernor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature have continued to liberalize Florida’s treatment of cannabis. After previously lifting the prohibition on smoking medical marijuana, the Legislature passed and Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1020, which legalized hemp effective July 1, 2019.
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