What’s In Store For Florida Cannabis Laws In 2024?
It has been a long time since anyone has gotten arrested in Palm Beach County simply for having a small bag of weed in their pocket, but Florida continues to operate under a set of sometimes ambiguous and sometimes contradictory laws about cannabis. Those laws are always changing, as some legislators want to place more restrictions on the sale and possession of cannabis, while others want to remove restrictions. This year, several bills that would impose more restrictions on Florida’s medical cannabis industry failed to pass, but a sea change could be coming if Florida voters are allowed to decide directly whether to decriminalize cannabis for adult recreational use this year. Meanwhile, there are still plenty of ways to get in trouble with weed, including underage possession, smoking marijuana in public, and illegal sale or distribution of cannabis. If you are facing criminal charges related to cannabis, contact a West Palm Beach drug offenses lawyer.
The Current State of Cannabis Laws in Florida
At the federal level, cannabis is still a Schedule I controlled substance, and this fact looms in the background of all state level legislation. Medical research and clinical use of Schedule I controlled substances, so medical cannabis programs in Florida and other states must engage in fancy twists of logic to justify medical cannabis programs. Florida’s medical cannabis program is robust, and registered patients can buy THC oil, cannabis edibles, and smokable marijuana from dispensaries around the state. Meanwhile, some cities and counties in Florida have decriminalized possession of cannabis for personal use. In Palm Beach County, you get a civil citation, similar to a traffic ticket, if you are not a registered medical cannabis user and you get caught with a small quantity of marijuana.
Medical Dispensaries Can Sell High THC Products for Now
Medical cannabis is a thriving industry in Florida; dispensaries are ubiquitous and offer a variety of cannabis products. This year, the bills HB 1269 and SB 7050 proposed to limit medical cannabis products to THC concentrations of 30 percent or less, but neither of those bills passed.
Will Floridians Vote for Recreational Weed in 2024?
A major change to Florida’s cannabis laws could come if the 2024 election ballot contains a ballot question, where voters can directly vote “yes” or “no” about decriminalizing medical cannabis for recreational use. Lawmakers tried to get a ballot question like this on the 2022 ballot, but it got caught up in red tape over the wording of the question. If the ballot question makes it onto the ballot this year, it would be legal for all adults in Florida to buy cannabis from licensed vendors for recreational use. Critics of decriminalizing recreational cannabis say that it would benefit the few companies that already operate medical cannabis dispensaries more than it benefits the public.
Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today
Attorney William Wallshein has more than 38 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County. Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
hightimes.com/news/florida-gops-effort-to-cap-thc-goes-up-in-smoke/
