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Florida Republican Governor Candidates Are United In Opposing Marijuana Legalization

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2 months ago

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“I don’t support recreational marijuana. I think the current regulatory system around medicinal use is fine.”

Author: Mitch Perry, Phoenix, Florida

the subject of Should Florida legalize recreational cannabis? Smart & Safe Florida, the organization behind the initiative to return to voters this November, disappeared as a major campaign issue earlier this year after falling short of the nearly 880,000 verified petition signatures needed to qualify for the statewide ballot.

That defeat came a year and a half after nearly 56 Floridians voted to legalize recreational marijuana on the November 2024 ballot, a clear majority but far short of the 60 percent needed for passage.

While it’s not something voters will decide this year, Floridians may want to know where the candidates for statewide office stand.

Speaking at a “Business Women for Byron” campaign event Tuesday at the Getaway, a waterfront restaurant and Tiki bar in St. Petersburg, the first question an audience member asked GOP gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds was his stance on the issue.

“I don’t condone recreational marijuana,” Donalds responded. “I think the current regulatory system around drug use is fine.”

Donalds has previously admitted to being arrested for possession of “a dime bag of marijuana” as a teenager, and recently admitted to CBS Miami he actually sold small amounts of cannabis in his youth.

Now he says he doesn’t support expanding legal weed use beyond the 924,820 Floridians listed as medical marijuana patients, according to the Office of Medical Marijuana Use.

Acceptance in medicine, but never for entertainment

Other Republicans running for governor share Donalds’ sentiments.

“I am against recreational marijuana in Florida,” investment firm CEO James Fishback told the Phoenix in a text message. “I’ve seen what it’s done in cities that have already tried it, from New York to Chicago to Washington DC. The stench of pot in public parks and outside our schools can never reach Florida.”

However, Fishback says he will always protect “the right of those who have a legitimate medical purpose, including our U.S. military veterans.”

“No one should be denied herbal medicine and pushed toward an addictive prescription from big pharma for painkillers,” she said. “As governor, I will support medical marijuana. But I won’t allow champs to smoke pot in a public park, just like we already don’t allow them to drink in one.”

“I’ve been clear from day one. I am totally opposed to legalizing marijuana,” Gov. Jay Collins said in a video posted on social media on April 26. “We’ve seen the impact in other states, and it’s not where Florida is headed. I’m with Governor DeSantis on this one. No compromise, and no money from the marijuana industry. That’s all my opponents can say.”

“I’m against recreational marijuana,” former House Speaker Paul Renner said Wednesday at a panel discussion on high energy prices in Hillsborough County.

“We have medical. It was put in the Constitution (in 2016). If people want to get it, they can get it. And we opened that up as much as needed, but I’m against recreation. Period. If it goes back to the ballot, like Gov. DeSantis did.”

DeSantis announced in June 2024 that he would use a political action committee to fight the constitutional amendment on recreational marijuana, saying he could not believe the Florida Supreme Court had agreed to allow the measure’s language to go on the November ballot.

He later used tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to campaign against that proposal and another measure that would have guaranteed abortion rights in Florida, according to a Tampa Bay Times report.

Where are the Democrats?

Phoenix caught up with the two top Democrats running for governor this year: former GOP U.S. Rep. David Jolly and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

“I think the role of the governor is to represent the majority of the state, and the majority of the state asked for it, and I think we should,” Jolly told the Phoenix in a phone call Tuesday.

The Pinellas County Democrat says he voted against Amendment 3 in 2024, which would have called for the legalization of recreational marijuana use for adults.

But since announcing his candidacy last year, Jolly has emphasized that he will work to implement all of the recent constitutional amendments that have been approved by a majority in Florida, but have failed to reach the high margin of 60 percent needed to take advantage.

“Recreational marijuana received more than 50 percent of the vote in the constitutional amendment process and I would support enactment and introduce any amendment that received more than 50 percent of the vote in the legislature. That includes open primaries, recreational marijuana, and the 4th Amendment on reproductive freedom,” he said.

The only major gubernatorial candidate Phoenix couldn’t clear was Demings. While serving as Orlando’s police chief in the 2010s, Demings opposed constitutional amendments that would have legalized medical marijuana. 2014 and 2016

The Phoenix reached out to the Demings campaign by phone and email for two days this week, but did not receive a response. Calls to the phone number listed in the latest press release from the Demings campaign were answered by a recording that the person with the number did not have a voice mail system set up.

President Trump passed the 3rd Amendment

One prominent Florida Republican who supported the 3rd Amendment in 2024 was President Donald Trump.

“As I’ve said before, I believe it’s time to end the unnecessary arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use. We also need to put smart rules in place, giving adults access to a safe and tested product,” Trump posted on Truth Social in September 2024. “Like Florida, I will vote YES on Amendment 3 in November.”

In that position, the president promised to work to make marijuana a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act if elected to the White House, which he did in an executive order in December.

The US Department of Justice announced last month that it would immediately move FDA-approved marijuana products, along with items regulated by a state medical marijuana license, under Title III. Medical cannabis falls under the category of controlled drugs that have a recognized medical use, such as Tylenol, and not Schedule I drugs, such as heroin and LSD, which have no medical use and a high potential for abuse.

This story was first published by the Florida Phoenix.

user photo Philip Steffan.

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Village Farms International leads B.C. cannabis producers in global export push

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7 hours ago

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June 27, 2026

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Village Farms International, one of the world’s largest cannabis production facilities located in Delta, BC, increased its export volumes by more than 500 percent by the end of 2025, with international sales reaching US$37.9 million, or just over 20 percent of total cannabis revenue of US$188 million. The main export markets are Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Israel.

The company is also expanding, developing an additional 550,000 square feet of greenhouse space across the street from its main facility, designed to support both domestic and international cultivation. Orville Bovenschen, VFI’s global president of operations, points to the excise burden as a permanent strain on the domestic economy: “If you look at how much we paid in excise last year, it’s astronomical,” he says, although VFI declined to provide specific figures.

Walker Patton, one of the founders of the BC Cannabis Alliance, which represents about 50 licensed growers in the province, frames the domestic regulatory environment in stark terms: “With the rules that this industry was set up for, it’s like doing business right out of the gate.” Canada’s excise tax structure charges by weight instead of market price, meaning that since wholesale prices have fallen to roughly half of initial projections, effective tax rates for producers have risen.

© This is Holland

Sweetgrass Cannabis, a micro-farm located in the Kootenay region, now derives 60 to 70 percent of its sales from international markets after retreating from provinces such as Ontario and Alberta. Company CEO Gemma Hayes says: “Margins, as well as export opportunities, drove our decision.” Ontario’s wholesale markup of up to 25 per cent, layered with excise taxes, spurred what Hayes described as a “race to the bottom.”

Rubicon Organics, a Vancouver-based publicly traded company, entered international markets last year and recently opened a 47,500-square-foot facility in Hope in part to meet overseas demand. Speaking from the International Cannabis Conference in Berlin, Mathieu Aubin, director of marketing and new business, said: “Canada is very well positioned to access international markets for reliable and safe cannabis,” noting that reliability and product integrity are key to gaining access to the medical market.

Not all producers have equal access to these markets. Alex Rumi, founder of grower Good Buds out of Salt Spring Island, said established export markets are structured around an indoor pharmaceutical-style model that hurts sun-grown cannabis, and that Canada’s export system “works for big growers and doesn’t work for craft.” Julia Cameron, president of Cannabis Cultivators of BC and chair of communications and corporate affairs for the VFI, added that growers must secure permits for each shipment while navigating different rules across countries, creating a prohibitive barrier for small operators.

BC has more than 200 licensed growers and accounts for roughly a quarter of Canada’s legal cannabis production, but represents only 14 percent of national exports. Lana Popham, B.C.’s Minister of Agriculture and Food, points to the FIFA World Cup games in Vancouver as a near-term possibility: “It will be interesting to see how many people engage with what is a great product here in B.C.”

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Congressman And Other Media Outlets Join Marijuana Moment’s Push For DEA To Livestream Rescheduling Hearing

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7 hours ago

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June 27, 2026

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The momentum of the Marijuana Moment request for direct public and media access to historic federal cannabis rescheduling hearings they are being joined by a member of Congress and other reporters starting next week.

Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) sent a letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Friday, calling the ongoing marijuana rescheduling process “historic.”

“I am writing to request that the hearings be made available to the public in real time,” Cohen wrote to DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “Live streaming technologies have become ubiquitous and a common way for Americans to interact with the government. In late 2024, in a similar effort, your agency authorized live streaming of proceedings ‘due to the public interest in this matter’ and continued your agency’s ‘commitment to procedural transparency.’

“I see no reason why that reason wouldn’t hold today, especially when it comes to such an important and impactful issue,” the congressman wrote. “I have long been an advocate for transparency in court proceedings and I believe this is a rare opportunity to inform the public about rulemaking and administrative litigation.”

Cohen’s letter follows a couple Marijuana Moment’s attorney presented the petitions to Cole and DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius. to request access to a live stream of the hearing on the proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Title III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) — which includes only opponents of the reform as participants.

Also on Friday, an attorney from Portfolio Media, Inc., which publishes Law360, sent Cole a letter saying it “agrees with Marijuana Moment’s request” for streaming access.

“This approach is consistent with DEA’s prior approach to this hearing and the compelling public interest in rescheduling marijuana under the CSA, a policy change with profound social, legal, and regulatory implications,” the letter states.

Requiring observers to attend in person “limits real-time information about a consequential policy development to the press and a small audience in attendance, and removes the ability of the press to report on that development,” he says. “Live streaming is a safe, continuous and fair way to ensure meaningful public access and advance the DEA’s stated commitment to transparency.”

Separately, an attorney representing the cannabis publication Cultivated Media and also on behalf of New York Times reporter Ashley Southall sent a letter to the DEA administrator saying they “want the ability to monitor the proceedings in real time, to provide readers with reports on the progress and perspective of testimony and evidence during the hearing.”

“Cultivated Media, Ashley Southall and Marijuana Moment and all the other media because of this access to the live stream can simultaneously report on issues of important public concern related to a historic hearing,” he said.

The DEA announced Thursday that it would make the transcript available at the end of the multi-day hearing, but Marijuana Moment attorney Joseph A. Bondy wrote in his letter Thursday that it would not help the public follow the proceedings in real time on a daily basis.

“The final transcript is useful, but not a substitute for access to a live broadcast. A live broadcast allows the public and the press to observe the hearing as it unfolds without contesting admissions, filling the courtroom, or disrupting the proceedings,” the letter to Cole says. “After reviewing, correcting and releasing the transcript weeks after the testimony, the opportunity for real-time observation, timely reporting and public information response has passed.”

“For a large public audience seeking serious coverage of federal cannabis policy, Marihuana Moment is an important channel through which the public can understand these proceedings.”

“To the extent that the DEA now believes that live streaming is inappropriate, despite the DEA’s prior directive in this rulemaking, Marijuana Moment respectfully requests a written explanation identifying the specific basis for that conclusion, including why the public interest and transparency that previously warranted live streaming are being overridden here,” Bondy wrote.

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Separately, cannabis advocates sent a letter Thursday to Julius, the DEA judge, saying he would not consider submissions from outside parties, also requesting access to the live stream.

“Many of the patients most interested in this procedure cannot travel to Arlington, Virginia. Many are disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, financially limited, or managing serious medical conditions,” states the letter from Americans for Safe Access, Veterans Initiative-22, US Pain Foundation, Realm of Caring, Montel Williams and others.

“Patients and advocates who can travel will also be unable to physically wait in line for an uncertain chance of admission, only to be turned away when limited seats are filled,” they wrote. “So the audience may technically be open to the public, but virtually inaccessible to most.”

Meanwhile, the DEA said in a new filing that its witness list for the hearing includes a doctor. Testify on “How Medical Marijuana Provides Medical Benefit to Pain Patients.”

Separately, the opponents who are participating in the trial have presented their declarations this week anticipate the anti-marijuana arguments they intend to make during the procedure.

The hearing it will start on June 29 and end before July 15.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April He issued an order that immediately reclassified the state’s licensed medical cannabisas well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Schedule I through Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

According to a separate order signed by the acting attorney general, the upcoming hearing will include Class III marijuana.

Preliminary hearing process on the marijuana redistricting process initiated by the Biden administration It was halted last year amid allegations of improper communications and witness selection.

the current The marijuana redistricting process is being challenged in several ways which have been upheld by a federal Court of Appeals. those pieces of State attorneys general have filed lawsuits against cannabis reform, Opponents of marijuana legalization and a a cannabis-based biopharmaceutical corporation.

Meanwhile, the reorganization of state-licensed medical cannabis is already having a major impact.

The Congressional Research Service published a report on the current rescheduling of cannabis Certified patients with medical marijuana from state licensed dispensaries are now eligible for Class III. “The order appears to allow end users to use marijuana medically without a CSA prescription,” he says.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has published a Draft update to a gun purchase form to recognize the legal status of medical marijuana in the reprogramming. The revised section of the question states that only the “recreational use or possession of marijuana” is federally prohibited, omitting the prior form’s mention of medical cannabis.

The US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to issued new tax guidelines for the marijuana industry after reprogramming. The reform will benefit state-licensed marijuana businesses by allowing them to take federal tax deductions that are currently prohibited under IRS Code Section III, known as Section 280E.

Even the DEA, which has long opposed cannabis legalization and accused the Biden administration of stalling the initiative in the reorganization process, has done so. It launched a registration process for legal marijuana businesses in the state to take advantage of the federal benefits that come with the reform.

The Department of Transport, on the other hand, issued guidelines stating this use Legal medical cannabis in the state is still no excuse for truck drivers to test positive for drugspilots and other safety-sensitive personnel.

A congressional committee recently Federal officials voted to block further steps to reschedule cannabis.

read it the letters About DEA admin access to live streaming:

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New access solution for cannabis facilities designed to address limitations of traditional gates

Published

1 day ago

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June 26, 2026

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SpaceGuard Products, a North American manufacturer of wire mesh security solutions and security protection systems, has released the BeastWire® Tunnel Door. This access solution is designed to overcome the limitations of traditional balanced doors and is aimed at cannabis cultivation, processing, packaging and distribution environments. The BeastWire Tunnel Door is designed for installations that require vertical clearance, reliable movement and floor space efficiency.

The BeastWire Tunnel Door provides top clearance with no tracks in the operating path of the door. It is suitable for spaces where overhead paths are not feasible, such as facilities that use high-mast forklifts, oversized pallet loads or specialized material handling equipment. Tall equipment can pass through the opening unhindered, allowing for continuous workflow and flexibility in equipment movement.

© SpaceGuard Products

The door uses a track system designed to create consistent movement. This addresses issues such as stuttering, binding, and misalignment that can occur with conventional sliding or counterbalanced designs. The track controls the path of the door so that the locking mechanism aligns with each cycle, allowing operators to close the door with relatively low force.

Unlike lower track systems that require a soil trench, the BeastWire Tunnel Door mounts above ground. This avoids cutting the installation slab, simplifies installation and reduces maintenance requirements. The system can be installed as a retrofit or in new construction, without changing the floor.

© SpaceGuard Products

The door frame and retractable design reduces the need for side supports and additional space on the side of the door. This results in a smaller footprint and more usable surface area. The gate has the same construction approach as other BeastWire systems.

The BeastWire Tunnel Door is a high-access door designed for strength and ease of use in cannabis industry facilities.

For more information:
SpaceGuard products
Email: (email protected)
spaceguardproducts.com/










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