Florida Governor Says: Ban On Smoking Medical Marijuana Ends In March

Summary

Governor Ron DeSantis honors campaign promise.

Flower/buds on way to legalization.

Change expected by mid March 2019.

Governor agrees with 2nd Judicial Circuit ruling that 2017 State Law is unconstitutional.

DeSantis says current seed-to-sale system is a State-sponsored cartel that must end.

On Thursday, January 17, 2019 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared that if the Legislature during the first two weeks of March does not change the law that bans smoking medical cannabis, the state will drop its appeal of a court ruling that threw out the state ban.   Accordingly, about 210,000 medical marijuana patients in the Florida will soon be able to purchase smokeable flower/buds either because the Legislature removed the ban or the court ruling takes effect. 

In making his announcement the Governor also said that the current medical marijuana seed-to-sale distribution system created by the Florida Legislature established an unacceptable cartel arrangement. He essentially agreed with the 2nd Judicial Circuit Judge Karen Gievers ruling that the 2017 Florida Law on medical marijuana was unconsitutional.  DeSantis accused the GOP-controlled Legislature of failing to follow the will of Florida voters who overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the State Constitution in 2016 that legalized medical marijuana.

The Governor said he will ask the court for a "stay of decision" on the stae's appeal until the mid-March deadline.  Florida's two-month legislative session begins March 5.

It is clear that major change is coming fast to Florida's medical marijuana industry and that all companies will be impacted.  Soon there will be firms that grow marijuana, firms that process marijuana, firms that distribute marijuana and firms that dispense marijuana.  The number of new companies in Florida is certain to explode as the barriers to entry are taken down.  Furthermore,  prices of medical marijuana products will decline as competition increases.

Trulieve Dominance

As the dominant medical marijuana company in Florida, Trulieve (TCNNF) is going to have to move swiftly to solidify its customer base through differentiation by product and service.  Its recent deal with Sunshine Cannabis and the introduction of the Sunshine Kush branded product line is an important step in the right direction as is the existing Trulieve cusomer loyalty program. 

×

Content:

• To import a Word document, simply copy and paste into the editor.
• To insert a video or other embed, simply paste share link in new line and press Enter.