Jonathan Robbins, Cannabis Practice Chair, spoke to Cannabis Wire about lobbying efforts in Florida by the cannabis industry, following an active 2019. Cannabis businesses spent $3.7 million in 2019, more than double the year before.
Robbins elaborated that there is significant interest in Florida by lobbyists because of how restrictive the market is. State law requires cannabis operators to be vertically integrated, meaning they control the plant from seed to sale. Florida also places a cap on the number of licenses given out. This means starting a cannabis business is very expensive and it is difficult for smaller operations to compete. Robbins said it is likely that major multi-state operators lobbied against efforts to open up the market, because they have an interest in maintaining control.
“Those operators want to continue to keep it a very small playing field,” he said. “With any emerging industry, as it starts to mature, you’ll see a lot of policy reform driven by litigation and regulatory action.”