Medical marijuana research funding expected to bring millions to FAMU

A late amendment by State Senator Darryl Rouson to a senate proposal on medical marijuana licensing is expected to steer millions of research dollars to Florida A&M University.

The bill (SB 8-A) instructs the Florida Department of Health to “issue medical marijuana use registry identification cards for qualified patients and caregivers who are residents of this state, which must be renewed annually.”

It goes on to state that “the department shall allocate $10 of the identification card fee to the Division of Research at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University for the purpose of educating
minorities about marijuana for medical use and the impact of the unlawful use of marijuana on minority communities.”

Gov. Rick Scott said he plans to sign the bill into law.

On Friday, Scott also announced his decision to sign SB 1726, “Industrial Hemp Pilot Projects,” introduced by Sen. Bill Montford and co-introduced by Sen. Bobby Powell.

The law states that: “The [Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services] shall authorize and oversee the development of industrial hemp pilot projects for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and any land grant university in the state that has a college of agriculture…The purpose of the pilot projects is to cultivate, process, test, research, create, and market safe and effective commercial applications for industrial hemp in the agricultural sector in this state.”