Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill To Revoke Medical Marijuana Cards From People With Drug Convictions, Sending It To DeSantis’s Desk

Lawmakers in Florida are sending legislation to the governor’s desk that
would revoke state medical marijuana registrations of people convicted of
certain drug crimes.

On Monday, both the House and Senate signed off on a compromise version of
SB 2514, a broad bill that touches on cancer, dentistry and other
health-related matters. It also contains a provision that would force the
state Department of Health (DOH) to cancel registrations of medical
marijuana patients and caregivers if they’re convicted or plead either
guilty or no contest to criminal drug charges.

On Monday, both legislative chambers approved a compromise committee’s
revised version of the bill and sent the measure to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Language in the latest version is slightly different than what the Senate
approved earlier this year. It says that a patient or caregiver would have
their registration immediately suspended upon being charged with a state
drug crime. The suspension would remain in place until the criminal case
reaches a final disposition.

DOH officials would have authority to reinstate the registration, revoke it
entirely or extend the suspension if needed.

Authorities would be required to revoke a person’s registration if the
patient or caregiver “was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendre
to, regardless of adjudication, a violation [of state drug law] if such
violation was for trafficking in, the sale, manufacture, or delivery of, or
possession with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver a controlled
substance.”

The revised language appears to eliminate an earlier restriction that would
have also revoked registrations for people who merely purchased illegal
drugs, including more than 10 grams of marijuana for their own use. The new
version focuses more specifically on production and distribution.

It also clarifies that patients and caregivers would have a process to
request their registrations be reinstated. That would involve submitting a
new application “accompanied by a notarized attestation by the applicant
that he or she has completed all the terms of incarceration, probation,
community control, or supervision related to the offense.”

It’s not clear from the plain language of the revised bill whether it would
impact only future criminal cases involving medical marijuana patients and
caregivers or whether DOH would need to review the records of existing
program registrants and revoke registrations of an untold number of
Floridians with past drug convictions.

Notably, lawmakers defeated several proposals to expand the medical
cannabis program during this year’s regular legislation session—including
by allowing home cultivation, adding new qualifying conditions, protecting
employment and parental rights of patients and letting military veterans
register for free.

Separately in Florida, advocates are working toward putting a new adult-use
marijuana legalization measure on the 2026 state ballot following the
failure of Amendment 3 at the polls last November.

After filing the measure and launching a signature drive earlier this year,
the campaign Smart & Safe Florida has collected 377,832 valid
signatures—about 150,000 more than required to kick off the review process,
according to Division of Elections numbers from earlier this month.

The state is now statutorily obligated to conduct a judicial and financial
review of the measure that will determine its legal eligibility and inform
the electorate about its potential economic impact.


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Smart & Safe Florida is hoping the revised version will succeed in 2026.
The campaign—which in the last election cycle received tens of millions of
dollars from cannabis industry stakeholders, principally the multi-state
operator Trulieve—incorporated certain changes into the new version that
seem responsive to criticism opponents raised during the 2024 push.

For example, it now specifically states that the “smoking and vaping of
marijuana in any public place is prohibited.”Another section asserts that
the legislature would need to approve rules dealing with the “regulation of
the time, place, and manner of the public consumption of marijuana.”

Gov. DeSantis had repeatedly condemned the 2024 initiative over that issue,
claiming there were not parameters to prevent public smoking, while
expressing his distaste for the smell of cannabis.

The governor said in February that the newest measure is in “big time
trouble” with the state Supreme Court, predicting it will be blocked from
going before voters next year.

Last year, the governor accurately predicted that the 2024 cannabis measure
from the campaign would survive a legal challenge from the state attorney
general. It’s not entirely clear why he feels this version would face a
different outcome.

While there’s uncertainty around how the state’s highest court will
navigate the measure, a poll released in February showed overwhelming
bipartisan voter support for the reform—with 67 percent of Florida voters
backing legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of
independents and 55 percent of Republicans.

However, the results conflict with another recent poll from the Florida
Chamber of Commerce, a proactive opponent of legalization, that found
majority support for the reform among likely voter (53 percent) but not
enough to be enacted under the 60 percent requirement.

In the background of the campaign’s signature development, DeSantis signed
a GOP-led bill last month to impose significant restrictions on the ability
to put initiatives on the ballot—a plan that could impair efforts to let
voters decide on marijuana legalization next year.

Separately, a Florida GOP senator claimed recently that the legalization
campaign “tricked” Trump into supporting the 2024 measure by misleading him
and the general public about key provisions.

Ahead of the election, Trump said in September that he felt Amendment 3 was
“going to be very good” for the state.

Before making the comments, Trump met with the CEO of Trulieve, Kim Rivers,
as well as with a GOP state senator who is in favor of the reform.

While Trump endorsed the Florida cannabis initiative—as well as federal
rescheduling and industry banking access—he has since been silent on
cannabis issues. And his cabinet choices have mixed records on marijuana
policy.

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The post Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill To Revoke Medical Marijuana Cards From
People With Drug Convictions, Sending It To DeSantis’s Desk appeared first
on Marijuana Moment.