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Florida Ag Boss: Marijuana Won’t Be Coming To A Field Near You
May 16, 2014
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.
by The News Service of Florida
Comments
30 Responses to “Florida Ag Boss: Marijuana Won’t Be Coming To A Field Near You”
@Gembeaux. I’m not advocating the recreational use of marijuana. I certainly agree that abuse of marijuana can make you dumb, especially if you’re already stupid like the people that Noexcuse mentioned, Not that a correctional institution is a worty litmus for an experimental hypothesis. The point I’m making is that if someone is ill or has a terminal disease there is no harm in letting them use marijuana. Also if someone wants to enjoy marijuana recreationally, why stop them? Or try? Marijuana is abundant throughout the U.S. and billions and billions of tax dollars worth of drug wars later, it still can’t even be kept out of prisons or military bases. How about legalizing it, controlling it like alcohol, taxing it (I guess), and make it a profitable industry instead of a black market that apparently isn’t going away? Stop wasting tax dollars, give people the right to be goofy stoners if they choose, and most importantly let ill people use it if they claim it helps them feel better. Is synthetic narcotics really better for ill people than marijuana? Land of the free right……..?
Ok I am a nonsmokers never cared for it much I understand that it has many short term good benefits and if used properly long term benefits .I also feel that this is just another way our government is using to control us I also feel that the way they are setting this up for producing it makes me wonder if he doesn’t have someone all set up to grow and is helping them control the market.
For those who doubt the medicinal-function of marijuana, take a few minutes and google “cannabis” and “cancer.” Once you have read the volumes of literature on that topic, enter “cannabis oil” and “patent.” Since I know most people won’t take the time to do it, let me help you out a little – the federal government owns the patent on cannabis oil and lists in its patent description several of the KNOWN, EFFECTIVE uses for cannabis oil.
So, on the one hand they want to ban it, but on the other they want to monopolize – and by doing so, keep others from – the ability to produce an effective medicine from it. All the while the Big Pharm industry is rolling in the dough through medicines that often times cause more harm than good. Marijuana for drug use = not good. Marijuana for purely medicinal use = a gift from God!
Let’s look at marijuana In a different way forget about the medical use that it can and will save lives and no one has ever died for overdosing on pot.
Marijuana is illegal for no reason and you can ruin your life by getting arrested and have a drug record attached to you for life. you can spen 20 years in prison minimum mandatory centence.
Prohibition is much more dangerous than marijuana ever will be.
With out looking at the good marijuana can do. Just looking at the total failure of prohibition and how it ruine more lives than marijuana ever will.
That alone is a reason to change the laws and legalize marijuana.
As politician begin to admit that they have been mislead and institutionally lied to as a nation. That we have allowed, the prohibition industry profiteers to hijack our natural common law right for their gain. Today scientific fact is over shadowing the hysteria and misinformation of our government Lies, And these same politician now realize there is far more money in legal pot than there will ever be in the law enforcement of cannabis with out the ruination and destruction caused by prohibition.
With all of the broad based efforts to restrict, tax and do away with the use of tobacco products you would think that those same people would be against marijuana as well but they aren’t. It doesn’t make sense to me, marijuana is just as likely to cause cancer as tobacco, yet it is touted by the left as a miracle drug. The world has gone crazy.
Everyone can really say what they want, recent poll studies all over the U.S. show Americans are ready for marijuana legalization. No matter if you like it or not we are on the dawn of a new age for our nation. Just in industrial uses alone marijuana/hemp cultivation should be made legal on a larger scale. Medically it is proven in so many medical studies in noted medical journals by world professional scientists and doctors to have more beneficial properties that outweigh any “negative” side effects. As for listening to a bunch of cons say they can’t study because of marijuana use… sounds like an excuse, I’m sure they have excuses for being where they are in life too. For every con with a marijuana excuse there are 10000 pot users out there making it in the world, they are your musicians, artists, doctors, scientists, writers, plenty of marijuana users are fully functional and make a whole lot more money than most of us sitting on here debating.
@Joey ~ Belladona, Deadly Nightshade, and hemlock, not to mention many other deadly plants, also grow from God’s good earth, and many have useful medicinal purposes, but recreation isn’t one of those purposes. (Try it and see for yourself. )
I am all for medicines that alleviate suffering, and I believe that marijuana contains some compounds that may do just that, but I have to agree with @No Excuses. I’ve seen the results of chronic pot smoking in many. Even those who function well enough after many years are doing just that – doing only “well enough”, not reaching the potential (or serving society) in ways that they might have otherwise.
@ME ~ I had to laugh when you said the DEA is out of touch with the pulse of the nation. The so-called “pulse of the nation”, those things that are popular for a while, have included such temporary and poorly founded trends as Justin Bieber, beany babies, Yugos, and Shake Weights. =o)
Not saying its alright to sit around and smoke pot all day, but whats wrong with sitting down after your work day and enjoying a few puff’s to relax.
Same thing as those that stop by the quickmart every afternoon on their way home and grab their 12/24 pack of beer. I’m sure they don’t drink all day at work but enjoy a little relaxation when they get home.
Some of us don’t like the taste of beer may enjoy the other, BUT will go to jail if caught.
You enjoy your’s, why cant I Enjoy Mine ?
@ duh: I work in an educational environment in a prison. I can tell you from their ability to perform who my pot smokers were, and who my white collar guys are. In fact, THEY will tell you that they can’t learn because they “Smoked too much pot when they were younger”. In addition, I don’t have to smoke it or try it to know it’s bad for me. I am intelligent enough to read research studies. These studies do mention the beneficial effects of pot for “some” medical patients, but certainly not enough to legalize it for more than that. You seem to think that God condones the use of pot since he created it. Well, he created rattlesnakes too, but I would not want to experiment with the venom!
I vote NO TO POT.
Anyone who’s actually done the research can find that the prohibition of cannabis was enacted as a way to punish Hispanic migrant workers in the southwest. The word “marijuana” was popularized as propaganda to manipulate us into thinking it was an evil substance that these heathen Mexicans are using to destroy our youth (or some other b.s. excuse created by our government).
In the 1970s there were studies done and reports presented to the government that were ignored and infamously tossed in the trash, unread by Richard Nixon as he was beginning his war on drugs. Those studies found that cannabis does have medicinal value, shouldn’t be schedule 1, and should be studied further.
Now the DEA is so out of touch with the pulse of the nation. Lives are being ruined and in some cases lost over a plant!? A plant, that grows naturally, that can be cultivated without harmful chemical processing, that our body has natural receptors for, and that has been proven to alleviate pain, nausea, seizures, among other things. The government is seriously going after people for a plant that when grown for industrial purposes makes stronger, more durable fabrics than cotton. People are serving life sentences for non-violent, victimless crime over a plant! It’s absolutely absurd!
I’ve read a quote from one of our legislators that these new bills are contributing to the “Colorado-fication” of Florida. Well if that means higher sales tax revenues, lower crime rates, and alternative health care options that don’t involve big pharma, then sign me up and let my ballot be cast first.
For every body that thinks this is going to make Florida high, read it again. “would help patients get access to a strain of marijuana that is high in cannabidiol (CBD) and low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).”. THC is the acid in marijuana that shows up in drug tests and is what causes someone to get high. It would be in pill form. So don’t think that somebody can go to the ER and say they don’t feel good and get some weed for free. This could help a lot of people. And to John who said there are other ways of treating seizures, first off learn how to spell it. Second, I want you to please tell the parents of the little boy I know who takes 14 different Seizure medications in the morning just how many there are out there. Bottom line is to know all about something before you kill it.
To the folks claiming marijuana to be so harmful. Let’s just agree that too much of anything isn’t good for you- too much food kills people every day. Obesity in children will eventually kill many of them. But we are not going to put young people in jail because they are fat!
Now, we have learned with alcohol that prohibition never works. The two worst killer drugs in this country are cigarettes and alcohol, killing over 500,000 people per year. Yet we are smart enough not to add insult to injury by punishing these people! Ruining young peoples lives with needless criminal penalties and records is often a harm greater then the drug use itself.
Enough already – legalize it and leave people alone! (isn’t that what a free country is all about?)
@john – I bet you drink alcohol don’t you? All that stuff you said about marijuana is no where near as bad as what alcohol does to a person. Alcohol impairs your ability to drive, walk, talk, make decisions etc. I can function just as well on marijuana as I can when I am sober.
@Gembeaux – I have been smoking marijuana for 21 years and don’t feel any different or feel like I have any ailments from doing so. Also, comparing those other drugs to marijuana is like comparing apples to oranges. Marijuana grows naturally and does not require being processed in a lab for the “drug” affect to happen where as those other drugs cannot be used until they have been processed. I am against all drugs and alcohol but 100% PRO POT!
Come on, Scott! Let us get high!
Plant the seeds of freedom over grow the government.
Vote YES on Amendment 2!
This is a new age for mankind in medicine and industry. We rise up now and make it happen or be at the mercy of the politicians in this crumby conservative State.
So why look uneducated and laughable that you can spout nonsense like @John’s statement. That way of thinking is so 1940’s propaganda.
Go read up on your facts first buddy and don’t look like a moron spouting unsubstantiated information.
Im of the belief that if pot really does help with epilepsy and reduce seizures for these ppl suffering from seizures, Im all for it. I have a loved one who suffers from seizures and it is a horrible thing to watch. She can’t drive and there are times the seizures have become very debilitating. She has never touched an illegal drug in all her life. However, if pot did help her, her life would be so much better. The ignorance of ppl in this part of the state who oppose this type of help, amazes me. Im not for wide-distribution and pot field growing everywhere. Im for helping those who suffer from epilepsy or any other form of disease or malfunction of the brain that cause seizures. And one of the readers indicate there are other drugs that help reduce seizures. He apparently does not know anything about seizures or has anyone in his life that suffers from this. There are drugs that help reduce seizures, yes, but…..many times they do not work. Try walking a mile in a person shoes who does suffer from this. We can all judge but until you experience what another person experiences, don’t make decisions based on your ignorance.
Following the statement, “… the Department of Health would choose five nurseries — one in each corner of the state along with Central Florida ”
One may wonder if the DOH is using the R. Scott Economic Development Map that excludes the area of Florida west of Panama City?
However, if using a real map of the state that would mean nurseries in the regions of Pensacola, Jacksonville, Key West and Orlando-World.
Is there a “…registered nurseries that have operated in the state for 30 years and produce more than 400,000 plants.” in our area?
I ask because I do not know of a nursery that size in our region.
Almost sounds like DOH had their growers picked before the law was signed.
Yes lets deprive people of a plant that eases their pain and grows naturally fron GOD’S earth and force them to buy synthetic narcotics from major pharmaceutical companies that certainly don’t have lobbyists in the Capital telling the government what’s “good for you”! Yes lets please continue with those ignorant and archaic ideals.
@Duh: Actually, there are very many people who got sucked into the myth of marijuana’s “harmlessness”, but managed to get away from that lifestyle, and know firsthand of pot’s negative effects. In some ways very obvious, in some ways very subtle, but pot is never without negative effect. Those who are loudest in favor of legalization are those who just want a more convenient high. I’m sure “recreational” crack users, weekend meth users, occasional heroin dabblers would love the same thing.
One thing to keep in mind is that the purpose of drug laws is not necessarily to restrict intelligent adults, but to protect the next generation, the children who are unable to make those choices wisely.
“it will make you a lazy, stupid, a no good bum and hungry”…….John, I believe you forgot to mention “a politician”.
We need a patient/caregiver model WHEN Amendment 2 passes, with patients/caregivers growing their own prescribed herbal medications. I don’t trust Big Pharma, why would I trust a State-Supported Monopoly?
Responsible, attentive persons can take care of their own needs in this regard better than what will most likely wind up being a typical Florida Legislator’s SOP FUBAR situation of conflicting regulations, corrupt bureaucratic entities, and over-priced products.
Five nurseries operating for thirty years with a capacity of three hundred thousand plants. Sounds like monopoly 101.
A class action suit would be the best course for the smaller nurseries to challenge Mr. Putnam’s trust or policy.
STOP POT
Anyone that thinks smoking marijuana is harmless, they are blind and ignorant, I know,,, it will make you a lazy, stupid, a no good bum and hungry, it also affects negatively a persons motor skills. There are other ways of treating people with seisures. I will vote against any pot legalization.
How wonderful, lets pick 5 business’s that are already open and have people capable of doing the job. That should create plenty of new jobs for Florida, NOT.
Unlike other states which have changed their laws and are raking in billions in new tax dollars and creating thousands of new job. Once Again Florida is 5 years Behind the Curve.
As far as I know there are no fields of marijuana growing anywhere that it is legal. I will also be voting against Putnam. Anyone against marijuana needs to be voted out of the office they represent. There is nothing wrong with the plant,it has been used by millions over thousands of years. Only the ones that have never tried it seem to be against it. How can you be against something if you don’t know anything about it other than hearsay?
“There won’t be fields of marijuana growing in Florida” Not with that attitude!
I’m glad that other states have competent politicians. They won’t have struggling economies like Florida.