Florida Grants Medical Cannabis Licenses to Black Farmers Under New Law

LOS ANGELES– In a groundbreaking development, two Black farmers in Florida have been granted medical marijuana business licenses as per the legislation signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis last month.

The legalization law, which was instituted in 2017, stipulated that one medical cannabis business license be designated for a Black farmer who is part of the historic “Pigford” class action litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), accusing the department of discriminatory lending practices.

Although the law had been in place for years, it was only last year that the Florida Department of Health began accepting applications for the special license. After a legal and administrative challenge from other applicants delayed the process, lawmakers took action by passing HB 387, which mandated the approval of licenses for all qualified applicants.

Governor DeSantis signed the bill into law last month, and as a result, the Florida Department of Health has recently approved licenses for two out of the 12 applicants who submitted their applications last year. Farmer Terry Donnell Gwinn and Shedrick McGriff are the recipients of these licenses and have expressed their gratitude to the governor for enabling this opportunity.

Gwinn’s attorney, Jim McKee, conveyed Gwinn’s enthusiasm for the long-awaited Pigford MMTC (medical marijuana treatment center) license, stating that Gwinn and his team are now eager to commence cultivation, processing, and dispensing operations in Alachua County following the receipt of cultivation authorization.

The legislation also mandates the department to approve licenses for applicants whose applications were deemed by an administrative judge to have met all requirements for licensure. Additionally, the law allows a 90-day curing period for applications found to have deficiencies.

Reflecting on the significance of this development, Gwinn, a Black farmer, expressed that he has personally experienced the imbalances faced by Black farmers throughout history and is now fully prepared to offer medical cannabis to patients in need.

Governor DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate for 2024, has consistently opposed adult-use cannabis legalization. Nevertheless, during his time as governor, he has taken actions both in support of the state’s medical cannabis and hemp industries and to impose certain restrictions.

One of DeSantis’s recent moves includes signing a legislation prohibiting the sales of consumable hemp products, including cannabis “chewing gum,” to individuals under 21, which expanded an existing prohibition on young people purchasing smokable hemp.

Furthermore, the governor also signed a separate measure prohibiting sober living facilities from permitting residents to possess or use medical marijuana, even if the patient is legally certified by a doctor to use cannabis therapeutically in accordance with state law. However, all other doctor-prescribed pharmaceutical medications may still be allowed.

Looking ahead, the outcome of an ongoing state Supreme Court case may impact whether Florida enacts full legalization. A campaign recently received certification for having collected enough valid signatures to include the issue on next year’s ballot. However, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is challenging the measure, urging the court to invalidate it, as she has done with previous reform initiatives.

Economic analysts from the Florida legislature and DeSantis’s office have estimated that if the marijuana legalization initiative is approved by voters, it could generate between $195.6 million and $431.3 million in new sales tax revenue annually. These figures could further increase if lawmakers decide to impose an additional excise tax on cannabis transactions, following the example of other legalized states.