| METRO | RECREATIONAL GAMBLE W hen you’re a colossus of cannabis and you bank- roll a state initiative to le- galize recreational marijuana, you’re bound to receive some blowback. That’s what has been happening since Tru- lieve, the largest medical marijuana operator in Florida with 119 dispensaries across the state, backed the recently unveiled Smart & Safe Florida campaign to the tune of $5 million. “No home grow, the entire Florida recre- LyouIKE do facebook.com/miaminewtimes Check Us Out for Upcoming Parties and Events! ational market handed to the existing medical market, and the legislature doesn’t have to li- cense anyone else,” attorney and drug policy activist Shaleen Title fumed on Twitter. “Congratulations to Trulieve on one of the most revolting, monopolistic measures yet.” Title’s response was typical of many that greeted Trulieve’s announcement of the ballot initiative, which would amend the Florida Con- stitution to allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell cannabis to adults for recre- ational purposes. If the measure passes muster with the Florida Supreme Court, organizers will have to gather 900,000 signatures on a peti- tion to put it on the ballot in November 2024. The fact that the proposal contains no pro- vision to broaden the rarefied ranks of exist- ing dispensaries, coupled with the lack of a clause that would allow Floridians to grow their own marijuana, virtually guaranteed that the initiative would be met with skepti- cism, if not outrage, from those who want to see cannabis legalized for recreational use. “It’s keeping almost everything exactly the same as what’s going on in the medical mar- ket, which we’ve been extremely critical of,” cannabis cartoonist Brian Brown tells New Times. “It’s hostile to small business. All this initiative really does is allow existing opera- tors like Trulieve that already are in a limited- competition state to also sell to tourists and other people coming into Florida.” Of the 19 states where recreational canna- bis is legal, 13 (plus Washington, D.C.) permit users to grow their own marijuana. Home- cultivation provisions vary, but most allow each adult over 21 to grow a maximum of six plants with a maximum of 12 plants per household. But they’re not permitted to sell what they grow; sales are the exclusive prov- ince of state-licensed dispensaries. Florida’s medical marijuana industry was 6 N 6 born in 2014 when low-THC medical canna- bis was first permitted. Initially, in order to qualify for a license, an operator needed to have operated a registered nursery in the state for at least 30 years and have at least 400,000 plants at the time of applying. When Amendment 2 took hold in 2016, the state loosened its licensing requirements somewhat. But the financial barrier to licensing remains in the form of a $60,000 Marijuana activists see Trulieve’s push to legalize recreational marijuana as an attempt to keep the status quo. Photo by Juanma Hache/Getty Images application fee and the requirement to post a multimillion-dollar bond — which may help to explain why not one of Florida’s license holders is Black. There’s also the state- mandated “vertical integration” model, which requires that all operators grow, process, transport, and sell their product. The result has been a veritable weed oli- “THE MARKET IS CLOSED BY POLITICIANS, AND IT CAN BE OPENED BY THOSE SAME POLITICIANS.” gopoly in which major marijuana operators like Trulieve dominate the market. Florida’s $1.2 billion medical marijuana industry is composed of only 22 licensed businesses that operate 460 dispensaries. As of August 5, 2022, more than 740,000 Floridians are registered to use medical marijuana, according to the state’s Office of Medi- cal Marijuana Use. Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers tells New Times that her com- pany supports all measures to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. But Brown says it’s notable that the company is putting $5 million behind this particular effort, which would not expand ac- cess. (Trulieve contributed $250,000 to last year’s unsuccessful Sensible Florida initia- tive, which would have put a measure on this year’s ballot and included a provision for home cultivation.) “They’ve said, ‘There’s no other way we can possibly have done this,’ but it’s interest- ing that this way happens to be the way that benefits them,” Brown says. “It’s extremely beneficial. It doesn’t change anything about this extremely restrictive original medical cannabis bill, which doesn’t allow new opera- tors and no home-grow for patients. This doesn’t add any of that.” Marijuana activist and Women’s Initiative for a Safe and Equitable Florida cofounder Mo- riah Barnhart, who supports the Smart & Safe initiative, counters that Florida’s single-subject requirement for constitutional amendments is to blame for the lack of a home-grow provision. To that end, she’s filing to create a new political action committee, Wise & Free, which in turn will launch a home-grow proposal to run in conjunction with the adult-use initiative. “We have made it very clear that we are launching a home-grow initiative directly be- hind this one, and it’s going to run parallel,” Barnhart explains in response to the criticism. “One initiative has to be so carefully worded to include only one subject, certain verbiage that acknowledges current federal law and how the market exists. All of those things are necessary to pass [Florida] Supreme Court review.” The legislature, Barnhart adds, is to blame for the barriers to entry. “The market was closed by primarily Re- publican leadership,” she says. “A lot of people don’t know and understand that the market is closed by politicians, and it can be opened by those same politicians. If these people were advocating with us for all of these years, these things would have already been done.” Marijuana user Chase Book says he’s con- cerned Trulieve will never relinquish its power over the market if home-grow is not included in the initial amendment. “What makes you think a company that’s [going to be] reeling in quadruple the amount of money they were before will try to allow you to grow your own medicine at home?” Book says. They’re telling you one thing when in reality they’re just going to hit you on the other end once everything’s been set in place because it’s not like legislation can just be rewritten.” Barnhart insists Smart & Safe is merely the next step in the fight for marijuana legaliza- tion in Florida. “This isn’t perfection,” she admits. “We need to start making strides to help people who need help today. Adult use is taking the right step in the direction of equity so we’re just not having tunnel vision. We have a broad understanding of legislation and of how con- stitutional amendments pass supreme court review in the state of Florida.” [email protected] Marijuana advocates aren’t sold on Trulieve’s recreational cannabis initiative. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 AUGUST 25-31, 2022 NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | what you see?
