The Florida Department of Agriculture expects to receive 8,000 applications by December and issue 3,000 cultivation permits early next year when the state rolls out its new industrial hemp program.

Some officials estimate the crop could eventually spawn a $30 billion annual industry in the Sunshine State but, as the Senate Agriculture Committee learned Tuesday, the rosy prospectus comes with thorns.

While 37 states have authorized industrial hemp programs in the two years since the crop was legalized under the federal 2018 Farm Bill, all await approval and guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Earlier in 2019, Florida lawmakers approved the state’s first industrial hemp program. This was a campaign priority of Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried, and expectations were high.

Branded as a savior for the slumping agricultural sector, the hope was crops could be planted this year, launching a multi-billion dollar industry.

Two members of Florida’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill on Thursday that would expand research into the medicinal use of marijuana. The measure, titled the Expanding Cannabis Research and Information Act, was filed by Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala and her Republican colleague Rep. Matt Gaetz has signed on as a co-sponsor.

If passed, the bill “would develop a national cannabis research agenda, direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collect data on the health impacts of cannabis, establish a National Institutes of Health ‘Centers of Excellence’ research designation, and reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III controlled substance,” according to Shalala’s office.

For years, the possibility of legalizing recreational adult-use marijuana in Florida was little more than an afterthought — but in recently, momentum’s picked up. In 2016, Florida voters approved an initiative that legalized medical cannabis, only for state lawmakers to subsequently ban smokeable forms until earlier this year. Now, legal recreational marijuana in Florida may be a reality as soon as 2020.

When members of Congress voted to legalize hemp late last year, they likely did not envision that it would make it harder for law enforcement in places such as Florida and Texas. But that’s exactly what has happened.

Officials in both Florida and Texas have voiced their intention to stop the prosecution of low-level marijuana cases. That’s because no reliable field test exists that can tell the difference between the presence of hemp, which won’t get you high, and cannabis, which will.

A cannabis advocacy group is poised to get the question of legal weed put on the ballot in the 2020 election.

While 2019 was predicted to be a banner year in the push to legalize marijuana in more parts of the United States, aside from Illinois making admirable advancements in this department, the year for cannabis has been nothing short of a dead dog. New York and New Jersey screwed the pooch earlier this year when it came time to establish a taxed and regulated pot market. And regardless of what you might have heard, Congress, as a whole, is nowhere even close to marijuana-friendly.

Marijuana possession cases will no longer be prosecuted in Tallahassee, Florida and the surrounding area, according to a letter to law enforcement agencies from the State Attorney. The action was taken in response to the legalization of hemp in Florida earlier this year and at the federal level with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.

In the letter from Jack Campbell, the State Attorney for Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit, law enforcement agencies were informed that the difficulty in easily differentiating hemp and marijuana led to the decision.

With medical marijuana dispensaries becoming commonplace in Florida, will recreational pot soon be on the shelves, too?

The people behind the effort to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot say yes.

That optimism is reflected in the 65 percent of Florida voters polled recently by Quinnipiac University who support the idea, a number the polling company noted is at “an all-time high.” National trends are running the same way.

A Florida appellate court ruled on Tuesday that a law enacted to license cannabis providers in the state does not comply with the amendment that legalized medical marijuana and is therefore unconstitutional. The ruling by the 1st Court of Appeals in Tallahassee held that the law requiring cannabis businesses to be vertically integrated and handle all aspects of cannabis production from seed to sale created an oligopoly and should be struck down.

It’s full-steam ahead for industrial hemp in Florida now as Gov.