Florida lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan measure that would honor medical marijuana identification cards from other states. 

HB 557 and SB 1328 would provide "reciprocity" for qualified patients and caregivers who are not residents. The House measure was filed earlier in January by Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, and Rep. David Silvers, D-Lake Clarke Shores, while the Senate version was filed last week by Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula. 

Fresh off its successful IPO, SLANG Worldwide (CNSX: SLNG) has formed a strategic partnership with Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis (OTC: TCNNF) to offer cannabis patients in Florida access to leading cannabis brands in Trulieve’s dispensaries across the state.

With officials seeing a potentially lucrative industry, Senate Agriculture Chairman Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, is proposing creation of a state hemp program.
Albritton on Thursday filed a bill that would set up the program under the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill came after Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried last week named Holly Bell as the state’s first director of cannabis, a position that is expected to focus on building a hemp industry.
The bill also comes as agriculture officials say hemp production could help farmers and timber owners in Northwest Florida who sustained heavy damage in Hurricane Michael.

Independent testing reveals that many commercially marketed CBD-infused products contain lower percentages of cannabidiol than are advertised on the products’ label, according to an investigation conducted by NBC News in Miami.

Investigators submitted 35 commercially available products for third-party independent lab testing. “Of the 35 samples … tested, 20 of them had less than half of the amounts of CBD advertised on the label,” NBC reported. Some samples, such as a package of infused gummies claiming to contain 1,000 mg of CBD, contained no cannabidiol.

Even though its being sold in stores as oil, lotion, or even candy form, hemp is currently on the controlled substances list in Florida. But as Blaise Gainey reports advocates are requesting the state remove the substance from the list.

The Florida House began moving a bill Tuesday designed to comply with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' demand that lawmakers repeal a ban on smokable medical marijuana by mid-March, but there remain differences with a similar bill moving in the Senate.

The House Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill on a 14-2 vote that would allow doctors to prescribe smokable marijuana. The bill restricts its use to pre-rolled, filtered marijuana cigarettes. A Senate bill being heard in its second committee stop later Tuesday has significant differences.

The expansion of cannabis access is moving forward by fits and starts in Florida. But for one state senator, a key group of the state’s residents are still being underserved by current regulations. On Wednesday, Gary Farmer, a Broward County Democrat, pushed for the elimination of the $75 annual fee for medical marijuana identification cards for veterans.

In front of the state Senate’s health care appropriations committee, Farmer expressed his dismay that Florida’s 1.5 million vets “should have to pay for the right for the eligibility to get legal medical treatment,”  reports Orlando Weekly.

Following Governor Ron DeSantis’ efforts to get the Florida legislature to lift its ban on smokable marijuana, the state is facing another challenge to laws limiting its medical marijuana program. For the second time, a circuit judge has challenged a 2017 Florida law that placed a cap on the number of dispensaries that are allowed to open.

Both the smokable cannabis ban and dispensary cap were created in a 2017 law that looked to regulate Amendment 2, Florida’s Medical Marijuana Legalization measure, which passed with the support of more than 71 percent of voters in 2016.

There has truly been a shift toward pro-cannabis thinking across the nation recently and this has fueled scientific research into the medical applications of marijuana. This combined with cannabis legalization in 30 states has given us usable information from clinical trials, FDA approved CBD medications, and science-based evidence. Now physicians from across America have become certified to recommend medical marijuana to qualified patients, for many conditions. Over-time cannabis-based treatment plans have evolved and become more effective and beneficial. Not only does cannabis have an array of medical applications, it has proven to be non-addictive, and comes with no negative side-effects.

Police in Florida arrested and jailed a man for 41 days on charges for trafficking heroin, only to discover that the "drugs" they actually found was laundry detergent, writes Joseph Misulonas.