Ron DeSantis Signs Bill Issuing Medical Marijuana Licenses To Black Farmers & Telehealth Renewals For Patients

Florida's medical marijuana patients will be allowed to use telehealth to renew their physician approvals, under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Doctors will still need to conduct an in-person exam before approving a patient, but they can then use telehealth visits for renewals. The move will affect Florida's 828,000 MMJ patients who at the moment have to visit their doctors in person at least every seven months.

The new law goes into effect on July 1.

Black Farmers

The bill (HB 387) will also help Black farmers get valuable medical marijuana licenses after years of delays.

When Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2016 legalizing medical marijuana, the law included a provision requiring health officials to issue a license to a Black farmer who was part of a class-action lawsuit over lending discrimination by the federal government, known as the “Pigford” litigation, which is a settlement with the Department of Agriculture that prohibits government discrimination against minority farmers.

Nevertheless, when Florida first launched its licensing program, none of the first dispensaries were minority-owned. It wasn’t until this past  September that a Black farmer, Terry Gwinn, was issued a license. Now pushing 70, Gwinn and his brother Clifford have grown vegetables on his 1,137-acre farm for more than 40 years.

But another 11 Black applicants for that permit were still denied and sued the state for discrimination.

The late-in-Session telehealth bill amendments signed by DeSantis are meant to resolve this long conflict and ensure all the applicants can legally obtain licenses. 

Easier Said Than Done?

Roz McCarthy, director of Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM) in Orlando says all applicants face enormous financial hurdles such as an application fee that can cost nearly $150,000. 

"Attorney fees, hiring technical writers and consultants, along with sourcing real estate for cultivation, processing, and dispensing locations, could run applicants at least half a million dollars," McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, a small group of big cannabis growers and businesses have gained considerable market share within Florida's $1.2 billion medical marijuana treatment center (MMTC) industry.

“The 14 active MMTC license holders operate 347 dispensaries with three  - Trulieve TCNNF, Surterra, Curaleaf CURLF - controlling more than two-thirds of the market," according to a report that's already two years old, so add a few dozen dispensaries.

But Optimism Reigns

“It’s a wonderful day that we have come to this point in the journey,” said Sen. Darryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg), who noted that Black farmers have been overlooked for years.

"This bill goes a long way toward giving them justice and giving them the opportunity to participate in the medical benefits of marijuana and the largesse that has been enjoyed by other members of the industry,” Rouson said, reported Florida Politics.