How To Grow Weed Legally In Florida
When Florida legalized marijuana in 2016, marijuana-producing enterprises were legally designated as Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers. In this article we cover everything you need to know about how to grow weed legally in Florida.
Thus, to begin cultivating marijuana on a big scale in Florida, or on any size, you must also have established a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC).
It's safe to assume that obtaining a license to produce cannabis in Florida requires a certain amount of research, honesty, and documentation.
A Little Legal Background
When it comes to obtaining a license to produce cannabis in Florida, you now have two alternatives, and one of them is through legal companies - MMTCs.
It is possible to apply for it online. This will allow you to not only produce cannabis, but also possess, sell, and transport cannabis goods.
So, if you want to expand in Florida, you may go via the Florida Department of Health to receive your licenses.
In addition, on April 27, 2020, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services unveiled the state's online Hemp Cultivation Licensing Portal, allowing the public to apply for growing licenses.
Growing medicinal marijuana at home is still illegal in Florida, but you may seek a hemp production license, which means it will have to be monitored on a huge scale.
Although there aren't many licenses available for new treatment institutions in Florida, the state is working to expand its program.
Additional licenses for treatment centers and growth operations will be granted for every 100,000 patients who register. It also allows you to manage, renew, and see your current application(s).
Prepare Before Applying for a Permit
Before learning how to receive a license to cultivate cannabis in Florida, there are a few things you need to know, grasp, and get in order.
The following checklist will assist you in navigating the procedure. In light of the preparations to be made before applying for permission, it will also ensure that you are given the permit rather than refused.
- Understand and be aware that as a licensed planter, you will have continuous duties such as crop harvest reporting, environmental containment, and submitting samples for THC testing.
- Understand all of the rules and make sure you follow them after you have your license.
- It's never too early to think about the genetics you'll be using or who you'll sell your crop to.
You must register as a nursery if you want to sell cannabis plants in addition to cultivating them. You can do so by contacting the Plant Industry Division.
- You must complete a background check, which involves fingerprint submission, as part of the permitting procedure. A complete set of fingerprints must be submitted to a provider of Live scan services. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement then reviewed the Responsible Person and any Control Person (s).
- You must have an ORI number (Originating Agency Identifier) given by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to perform a background check.
- It is critical to establish an environmental containment plan before beginning the application procedure.
- You'll need a lot of money to acquire this license!
How To Get A Grower's License In Florida
The first step in acquiring a Florida marijuana-producing license is to satisfy the minimum standards outlined in Florida's medicinal marijuana statute. Next, gather any extra information that may be necessary. The third and last step is to pay any applicable fees.
Step #1: Meet The Basic Legal Requirements
According to Florida law, all candidates for an MMTC must show that they have: a business that has been registered in Florida for the last five years;
- A valid nursery registration certificate from the Florida Department of Agriculture;
- The scientific and technological capacity to cultivate and manufacture marijuana, especially low-THC cannabis;
- The capacity to secure the buildings, resources, and staff required to function as an MMTC;
- Control over any cannabis products, including raw cannabis plant components and byproducts;
- The infrastructure for dispensing marijuana to eligible registered Florida medicinal marijuana patients;
- The financial resources required to maintain operations during the two-year approval cycle;
- A medical director to oversee the work of the MMTC; and
- A diversity strategy that ensures the participation of minority and veteran-owned companies.
All managers, owners, officers, and board members must also have level 2 background checks. Each person must provide the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with a complete set of fingerprints.
Visiting a certified fingerprint service provider is the best approach to obtaining a needed set of fingerprints. We've included a list of current service providers on this page.
Step 2: Gather More Detailed Information About Your Company.
The DOH proposed an administrative rule in 2018 that extended the standards for obtaining an MMTC license.
The DOH issued an Application for Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Registration in conjunction with that rule. Because the supporting administrative regulation was withdrawn last month, these specific rules no longer apply.
However, future MMTC applications may utilize comparable elements to assess whether a firm should obtain an MMTC.
As a result, it's worth checking the material in the 2018 MMTC application to see if there's anything further you can prepare now.
Seventeen Key Areas
Applicants for the 2018 application were required to submit written replies proving their knowledge and talents in sixteen categories. The DOH then evaluated the replies and awarded a point value to each one.
Each section's maximum scores ranged from 50 to 100. The applicant's application was more likely to be granted if they obtained more points.
The whole thing seemed like a high school exam.
The following were the sixteen areas specified in the MMTC application, along with the maximum number of points:
- Cultivation Knowledge and Experience (50 Points);
- Medical Marijuana Cultivation Plan (50 Points);
- Description of the Planned Cultivation Infrastructure (50 Points);
- Processing, Extraction, and Workplace Safety Knowledge (100 Points);
- Processing Infrastructure (50 Points);
- Dispensing Operations and Marketing Plan (50 Points);
- Medical Marijuana Dispensing and Patient Interaction (50 Points); (50 points)
- Infrastructure for dispensing (100 points)
- Premises Safety (100 points)
- Transportation and Operational Security (100 points)
- Medical Director's Job Description (50 points)
- Description of Cultivation, Processing, Dispensing, and Delivery Staff (50 points);
- Diversity Plan (100 points);
- Provision of Certified Financial Documents (100 points);
- Explanation of Corporate/Business Structure (100 points);
- Description of All Properties and Facilities (50 points).
Each of these sixteen categories, believe it or not, has its list of specific topics to be familiar with. For example, the first component, Cultivation of Knowledge and Expertise, demanded that the candidate demonstrate experience and knowledge in 10 areas.
Among the issues covered were: introducing new plant kinds in Florida; cultivating plants that are not native to Florida; and genetic alteration or breeding.
The whole list of subjects may be found in the MMTC application, as well as the DOH's Evaluation Rubric and Scorecard for MMTC applicants.
Understanding how your company complies with the rules for these issues will undoubtedly help you prepare for any future MMTC licensing obligations.
Step 3: Pay The Applicable Fees
The application price for an MMTC license was a hefty $60,830 under the 2018 administrative regulation! You should anticipate paying a hefty cost regardless of how the MMTC licensing requirements alter in the future.
Law Enforcement Strategies for Cannabis Cultivation in Florida
It is unlawful in the state to cultivate marijuana plants or to lease, operate, or own a grow house. It makes no difference whether the plants are produced for personal or commercial purposes.
Florida law enforcement is willing to expend significant time and money in the pursuit of outgrowing activities in the state.
Information is frequently obtained via confidential informants, who might be neighbors, acquaintances, or family who think you are illegally cultivating cannabis.
There are a variety of alternative strategies that are frequently employed. These are some examples:
- Stake-outs
- Phone line wiretapping
- Examining financial records
- Utilization of undercover cops
When law enforcement believes they have enough information to gain a warranty, they will come to search the property.
In Florida, 'cultivating Marijuana' Is Defined As
Cultivation of Marijuana is defined under Florida law as either possessing the illegal substance with the intent to manufacture it or making it.
Manufacturing is described as either indirectly or directly creating, packaging, preparing, labeling, relabeling, propagating, cultivating, compounding, propagating, converting, processing, or growing marijuana.
Manufacturing might be accomplished by the extraction of compounds from their natural sources, chemical synthesis, or a combination of both processes.
The Cannabis Cultivation Law's Enforcement
In Florida, law enforcement officials have launched many operations and programs to investigate marijuana-growing cases.
For example, the Florida Domestic Marijuana Elimination Program led to the identification of over 24,000 cannabis cultivation facilities in Florida and the eradication of over 2,000,000 cannabis plants.
This operation was responsible for over 9000 arrests in the state for marijuana production.
The Penalties For Cultivation in Florida
Cultivation is often classified as a third-degree felony in Florida. This implies it carries a potential 5-year prison term as well as a $5,000 fine.
However, in other situations, it may be considered a 2nd-degree felony. This means that the maximum penalty maybe 15 years in prison.
A charge of this nature might be brought against the defendant if he or she has a grow house and 25 or more marijuana plants.
When children live in the same house where the plants are grown, the offense may be classified as a first-degree felony.
Driving License Suspension
According to Florida Statute 322.055, anybody convicted of producing cannabis in the state would have their driving privileges or driver's license suspended for a year by the DHSMV.
The Rule Is Not Always True
There is one exemption to Florida's stringent cannabis production restrictions. In 2018, a state court ruled that a single medical cannabis patient could cultivate his cannabis for use in the plant-juicing regimen suggested by his doctor.
Home cultivation is still prohibited for MMJ patients in Florida, but Judge Gievers, who was presiding over the case, found that Joe Redner, a 77-year-old Tampa resident and cancer patient, was personally exempt from the prohibition.
Although Florida voters approved Amendment 2 in 2016 to expand the state's medicinal cannabis program, the legislature quickly implemented onerous rules that were placed on the budding new business.
The restrictions prohibited any patient from cultivating their cannabis plants, with only licensed dispensary firms authorized by law to cultivate, dispense, and process cannabis products.
Redner, a lung cancer sufferer, instantly filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Health, claiming Amendment 2 allowed him to cultivate medicinal cannabis himself, precisely because the marijuana method advised by his doctor was not legally accessible from dispensaries in the state.
Judge Gievers ruled that the state's health agency was infringing on Redner's rights by barring him from cultivating the type of cannabis he desired.
This decision may only apply to one person in Florida, but it looks to create an interesting precedent for any citizen of the state to challenge the legislation that outlaws cannabis cultivation in the house.
It has been proposed that, as a result of the Judge's order, patients who have a solid cause to cultivate marijuana at home, whether it is the exact kind of medicine they require or the fact that they cannot afford the drug at a dispensary, should be allowed to do so.
Those who believe this imply they may begin planting should be cautious. The Redner case is not yet closed.
The Florida Department of Health has filed an appeal, and it is believed that the case would take several years to resolve in court.
Redner is also not legally entitled to produce cannabis at home until the DoH's appeal is heard and settled in court.
Conclusion
Although medicinal marijuana is permitted in Florida for certain qualified citizens, growing your own is still unlawful. Recreational usage is still illegal, so cultivating your plants isn't a smart idea for anyone.
The consequences for being detected growing your cannabis plants in Florida may be severe, especially if you live near a school, thus producing marijuana in the state is a hazardous business.
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