FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA:
Though Florida could be headed toward allowing marijuana for medical purposes, marijuana won’t replace citrus or be seen growing in fields across the Sunshine State, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam told the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board on Wednesday. “There won’t be fields of marijuana growing in Florida,” Putnam said in the videotaped interview, of which snippets were posted on the newspaper’s website. “It will be grown under roof, in controlled environments, inside, for obvious security reasons.”
State lawmakers have asked Gov. Rick Scott to approve a measure (SB 1030) that would help patients get access to a strain of marijuana that is high in cannabidiol (CBD) and low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Meanwhile, voters will be asked to approve a proposed constitutional amendment in November that would lead to broader legalization of medical marijuana.
Putnam, who is opposed to the amendment, expects the proposal will garner the needed 60 percent of votes for approval. Still, “this is not a boon for Florida agriculture,” Putnam said. Putnam noted that under the low-THC bill approved by the Legislature, the Department of Health would choose five nurseries — one in each corner of the state along with Central Florida — to grow, manufacture and sell the product. And those growers must be registered nurseries that have operated in the state for 30 years and produce more than 400,000 plants.