John Demott has been growing palm trees, hibiscus flowers, ferns and any number of plants from the rocky South Dade County soil for more than 40 years. He never traveled to Tallahassee for a Florida legislative hearing until this spring, when Florida lawmakers were considering legalizing a certain kind of marijuana for a limited number of diseases.
Lawmakers did approve the bill and Gov. Rick Scott signed it into law in June, making growing pot legal in Florida, but with lots of rules.
While many of those rules continue to take shape, Florida voters will decide if they want to expand the legal pot business before one even takes root. Amendment Two on this election's ballot asks if voters want to allow doctors to recommend marijuana for their patients suffering from nine diseases, ranging from cancer and glaucoma to HIV/AIDS and ALS. Here's the 74-word ballot summary and the much longer 1,200-plus-word amendment that would be added to Florida's constitution if approved.
Opponents of Amendment Two point out Florida already allows medicinal marijuana to be grown legally in the state. That's true.
Or rather, it will be true when the Department of Health finalizes rules for growers and how to hand out the five licenses it has to grow a low THC pot legally.
The so-called Charlotte's Web law splits Florida into five regions, with each region getting one pot-growing license. The health department still is writing the rules, including how to hand out the licenses if there is competition for them. There likely will be in South Florida.
As of Oct. 3, the Florida Department of Agriculture had 78 Florida nurseries that met two of the requirements to be considered for a pot license: They were in operation for at least 30 years and were licensed for at least 400,000 plants. Sixteen of those nurseries are in South Florida, most in southern Miami-Dade County. It's important to note, inclusion on the Dept. of Agriculture list is no guarantee a nursery is eligible for a pot license.
John Demott and his Alpha Foliage is interested, though not with his money.
"I would never do it without someone else's money. You can set yourself up for failure," he said.
Demott worries about state law allowing pot growing running counter to federal law. And even as he waits for the final rules from the state regarding Charlotte's Web marijuana, he supports expanding the legal use of medical marijuana.
Here's a map of the 78 Florida nurseries that meet two of the qualifications to compete for one of the five licenses to cultivate and dispense a low-THC marijuana. The list of nurseries was current as of Oct. 3, 2014 from the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Antoine de Vallois is a second-generation nurseryman. His parents started in the industry after moving from France to South Florida eight days after they were married.
He runs Florida Tuxedo Plants and has about 20 acres. "It's a great opportunity for us as a company to grow. It's a great opportunity for the state to get a new industry. It's not every day you are presented with an opportunity to be a part of a brand-new industry," he said. Like Demott, De Vallois also supports expanding medical marijuana.
Sheldon Adelson does not. He's spent $4 million to defeat Amendment Two in Florida. Adelson is the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, the casino company behind such brands as the Venetian.
He has donated his millions to the Drug Free Florida Committee. That's the group opposing the amendment language through its No On 2campaign. Spokesman Javier Correoso says, "Medical marijuana already is legal in Florida, the so-called Charlotte's Web that was passed earlier this year. Unfortunately, this amendment is written so poorly and so vague that it opens the door for abuse."
"If I had to have an unscrupulous doctor prescribe OxyContin or morphine or Xanax, as opposed to medical marijuana, I will take the medical marijuana every time," says John Morgan, the Orlando personal-industry lawyer who bankrolls the United For Care campaign. That's the group working for passage of Amendment Two.
Morgan may have his work cut out for him. With less than a month before the election, a Tampa Bay Times-Bay News 9-University of Florida Bob Graham Center poll found only 48 percent supported expanding medical marijuana. That was a drop of nearly 10 points from a survey in mid-August. For medical marijuana to be added to Florida's constitution, 60 percent of voters will have to support it.
