Over the weekend, someone I love was arrested for marijuana. We’ll call him Jack. You don’t know Jack, but you might know someone just like Jack. Jack is 18, he loves God, his family, his friends, girls, and ganja – not necessarily in that order. He was charged with possession of marijuana over 20 grams, a felony in the 3rd degree, and underage drinking. His friend had a small amount of wax. Also a felony charge.

The underage drinking led to searching a backpack. Since honest people own their stuff – he admitted it was his, and now Jack and his entire family are changed forever.

If you think marijuana is legal, you are wrong. We are not finished yet.

• Officers continue to arrest good people for possession of Cannabis.
• Patients who are legal under state law continue to lose their jobs.
• Parents who use Cannabis continue to lose their kids.
• Businesses are jeopardized, legal products seized, and owners jailed, over hemp.

We need to have $15,000 in the bank to be in Tallahassee on March 2, 2021, for the Florida Legislative Session. We have raised $3,500 this week. We are not finished yet.

Can you help ensure that we are in Tallahassee fighting the good fight?
Please make a donation here to assure FLCAN is able to defend our liberty.

My friend Jack is out of good options. Police want substantial assistance to make the charge “go away.” That means making a controlled buy and ruining someone else’s life.

Or Jack may spend thousands on lawyers and years in and out of court.
We aren’t finished yet.

If convicted of a felony, Jack will spend thousands more to have the charges expunged or he will face a lifetime without access to rental housing, college opportunities, security clearances for well-paying jobs, and he loses his right to own a gun.

He has been advised to get a medical marijuana card to justify his use of cannabis as medicinal. Once he applied for that card, he willingly surrendered his right to purchase a new gun legally. Even as a legal patient he has no employment protection and no guarantee the local prosecutor won’t continue to pursue charges. We aren’t finished yet.

Beginning Thursday, February 11, 2021, Florida CAN members in good standing (those who have donated $50 or more since June 1, 2020) are invited to our Legislative Committee Meeting at 7 PM. You can renew your commitment here. The 7 PM Legislative Committee calls will run through May 6, 2021. The committee needs researchers, graphic artists, good writers, and anyone interested in following bills through the session. We will be watching dozens of bills, so many hands are welcome. Our committee will discuss strategies, write and promote action items, and inform the membership at the weekly Monday’s with Maria at 7 PM.

Every Friday, the Legislative Committee will go live on Facebook with the Friday 20 @ 4:20. A 20-minute segment to keep the Cannabis Community current.

We already have a few realistic goals for this session.
But change is not coming fast enough for Jack.
We failed Jack and the thousands of people like him who will be arrested for Cannabis this year.

We can’t afford to stop now. The few liberties a patient might enjoy are like drops of water for a person dying of dehydration. It is not enough. And those few liberties are fragile. We see the foreboding make-up of the Senate and the powerful voices of those who would restrict access further.

Even drastic changes at the federal level, while welcome, won’t change the reality in Florida for Jack or anyone else. Even if the federal government removed Cannabis from the Controlled Substance Act under the MORE Act, Cannabis would still be illegal under state law.

You need Florida Cannabis Action Network as much today as ever before. We are the persistent voice for the cannabis community. We are the resistance that agitates to remind people that humanity has a sovereign right to the Cannabis plant. Be part of the movement. Join FLCAN today, and support our efforts in the Florida Legislature and year-round from your hometown.