{"id":85041,"date":"2026-01-06T12:29:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/01\/06\/florida-patients-could-lose-medical-marijuana-registrations-for-having-open-containers-of-cannabis-in-cars-under-new-legislation\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T19:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:47:11","slug":"florida-patients-could-lose-medical-marijuana-registrations-for-having-open-containers-of-cannabis-in-cars-under-new-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/01\/06\/florida-patients-could-lose-medical-marijuana-registrations-for-having-open-containers-of-cannabis-in-cars-under-new-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Patients Could Lose Medical Marijuana Registrations For Having Open Containers Of Cannabis In Cars Under New Legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The ban on the carry of open cannabis products applies to both drivers and passengers.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carrying an open package of medical marijuana, hemp or THC products, including beverages, in a car, would be illegal and could lead to suspension or possible revocation of a patient\u2019s access to medical marijuana under a bill that\u2019s been filed in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Fort Myers Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin filed\u00a0SB 1056\u00a0Monday, eight days before the 2026 regular legislative begins.<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s bill would give law enforcement the green light to search a vehicle based on the \u201cplain smell\u201d of edibles, hemp, marijuana or THC beverages by creating a new statute that provides \u201clegislative intent.\u201d In doing so, the bill aims to blunt the effect of an October 2025 Florida Second District Court of Appeal ruling that the smell of marijuana alone is not enough to establish probable cause for a police search<\/a> because marijuana no longer is illegal.<\/p>\n

Because the ruling was in conflict with one of its previous rulings, the appeals court certified the\u00a0question of whether the legalization of medical marijuana and hemp in Florida means the \u201cplain smell\u201d doctrine, which allows searches based solely on the smell of marijuana, still is valid.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Martin didn\u2019t immediately reply to Florida\u2019s Phoenix\u2019s request for comment on the bill.<\/p>\n

The ban on the carry of open medical marijuana products applies to both drivers and passengers, although it wouldn\u2019t apply to paying commercial passengers or passengers on buses or passengers in self-contained motor homes that are longer than 21 feet. The definition of \u201copen container\u201d mirrors the\u00a0definition of open container for alcohol.<\/p>\n

The bill has different penalties for drivers and passengers who break the law.<\/p>\n

There are 929,655 medical marijuana patients in Florida, Office of Medical Marijuana Use data show.<\/p>\n

Both drivers and passengers who violate the law could be charged with a noncriminal moving traffic violation and suspension of their medical marijuana identification cards, which enable them to buy the product. And both drivers and passengers who repeatedly violate the law could have their access to medical marijuana permanently revoked.<\/p>\n

A driver who breaks the law a second time could be imprisoned for up to 90 days and forced to pay up to a $500 fine or both. Jail time for a third offense for a driver would be increased to up to six months and the potential fine upped to $1,000.<\/p>\n

Police won\u2019t have to wonder whether the driver or passenger owns the open product. Under the bill<\/a>, an open container of edibles would be considered to be in the possession of the driver unless it is located in a locked glove compartment, locked trunk or other locked part of the vehicle, or is in the physical control of the passenger.<\/p>\n

Rep. Dean Black (R) filed a similar bill<\/a> in the House of Representatives on Monday.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Florida Phoenix.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Marijuana Moment.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Florida Patients Could Lose Medical Marijuana Registrations For Having Open Containers Of Cannabis In Cars Under New Legislation<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Florida Patients Could Lose Medical Marijuana Registrations For Having Open Containers Of Cannabis In Cars Under New Legislation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ban on the carry of open cannabis products applies to both drivers and passengers. By Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix Carrying an open package of medical marijuana, hemp or THC products, including beverages, in a car, would be illegal and could lead to suspension or possible revocation of a patient\u2019sContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85041"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85042,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85041\/revisions\/85042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}