{"id":80924,"date":"2025-04-15T10:39:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T18:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/florida-lawmakers-unanimously-approve-bill-to-make-medical-marijuana-cards-free-for-military-veterans\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T19:47:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T03:47:02","slug":"florida-lawmakers-unanimously-approve-bill-to-make-medical-marijuana-cards-free-for-military-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/florida-lawmakers-unanimously-approve-bill-to-make-medical-marijuana-cards-free-for-military-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Bill To Make Medical Marijuana Cards Free For Military Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

A Florida House panel on Tuesday unanimously approved\u00a0a bill that would exempt military veterans from state registration fees for medical marijuana cards<\/a>, allowing them to obtain the certifications for free.<\/p>\n

The House Health and Human Services Committee advanced the legislation, HB 555 from Rep. Alex Andrade (R), on a vote of 21-0.<\/p>\n

As originally filed, the measure would have made more significant changes to the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis program, for example allowing home cultivation as well as reciprocity for out-of-state patients. But earlier this month the House Health Professions and Programs Subcommittee replaced its language with a two-page substitute that instead would make only small changes to the medical program.<\/p>\n

First, it would change how often patients need to renew their medical marijuana cards, from the current annual process to once every two years.<\/p>\n

Second, it would waive the $75 registration and renewal fees for veterans, specifying that the state \u201cmay not charge a fee for the issuance, replacement, or renewal of an identification card for a qualified patient who is a veteran.\u201d<\/p>\n

A handful of supporters testified ahead of the panel\u2019s vote on Tuesday, and no one spoke against the measure.<\/p>\n

Melissa Villar of Tallahassee NORML said that when Florida\u2019s medical cannabis program launched, \u201cit was the most expensive in the country for patients and for business entrance.\u201d She asked lawmakers to expand the bill to go beyond helping military veterans and to additionally provide for discounted or cost-free patient cards for people who are disabled or low income.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0HB 555<\/a>\u00a0becomes law, the changes would take effect July 1.<\/p>\n

Separately, House and Senate lawmakers are considering legislation that would outlaw fungal spores that produce mushrooms containing psilocybin or psylocin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The proposed ban on spores of mushrooms that create psilocybin or psilocin is part of the roughly 150-page bills, which would make a variety of adjustments to Florida\u2019s agricultural laws, including around agricultural lands, utilities and wildlife management.<\/p>\n

With respect to psychedelic mushrooms, both would outlaw transporting, importing, selling or giving away \u201cspores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Violating the proposed law would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum one year in jail and $1,000 fine.<\/p>\n

The Senate last week also passed a bill that would\u00a0restrict hemp-derived THC products, including popular THC-infused beverages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among other changes, that proposal would forbid any amount of synthetic cannabinoids, including delta-8 THC. The amount of delta-9 THC in hemp-derived products, meanwhile, couldn\u2019t be more than five milligrams per serving or 50 milligrams per container.<\/p>\n

The amount of THC in hemp-infused drinks to just five milligrams per container, and the beverages could be sold only by retailers with liquor licenses\u2014a provision backed by lobbyists representing the beer and wine industries.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a state judge last month\u00a0dismissed a lawsuit from the cannabis company Trulieve against the state Republican Party<\/a>\u00a0over last year\u2019s failed constitutional amendment that sought to legalize adult-use marijuana.<\/p>\n

The company had argued that the GOP\u2019s opposition campaign was \u201cintentionally deceptive,\u201d with \u201cdemonstrably false\u201d claims that were \u201ctrying to fool Florida voters\u201d into opposing the reform, but a the judge disagreed.<\/p>\n

The campaign behind the failed legalization effort, Smart and Safe Florida is already gearing up for another ballot fight next year, having so far submitted just over 7,500 valid signatures of the 891,523 needed to make the 2026 ballot, according to the Florida Division of Elections.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0campaign\u2019s 2026 iteration includes several changes<\/a>\u00a0that seem responsive to issues raised by critics about the 2024 version.<\/p>\n

State officials recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to the campaign, however,\u00a0alleging the group \u201ccommitted multiple election law violations.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

A recent survey from the University of North Florida found that, despite last year\u2019s ballot proposal failing, there\u2019s\u00a0overwhelming, bipartisan voter support for the reform<\/a>. It showed\u00a0that 67 percent of Florida voters now back legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.<\/p>\n

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)\u00a0but not enough to be enacted under the 60 percent requirement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said in January that\u00a0the latest version of the legalization initiative\u00a0is in \u201cbig time trouble\u201d<\/a>\u00a0with the state Supreme Court, predicting it will be blocked from going before voters next year.<\/p>\n

\n

Marijuana Edibles, Vaping And Dabbing Are Growing In Popularity, Federal Report From CDC Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Florida Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Bill To Make Medical Marijuana Cards Free For Military Veterans<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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A Florida House panel on Tuesday unanimously approved\u00a0a bill that would exempt military veterans from state registration fees for medical marijuana cards, allowing them to obtain the certifications for free. The House Health and Human Services Committee advanced the legislation, HB 555 from Rep. Alex Andrade (R), on a voteContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80925,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80924\/revisions\/80925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}