(WTXL) — A pair of Florida lawmakers have introduced bills aimed at allowing medical marijuana stores to sell recreational marijuana to Floridians.
On Thursday, Pinellas County Sen. Jeff Brandes introduced SB 710. Orlando Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith filed a similar bill, HB 343, days earlier.
The bill would authorize medical marijuana treatment centers to sell marijuana to an adult 21 years of age or older without a medical marijuana license.
It would also allow the purchase of marijuana products containing up to 2 grams of THC and up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis.
Along with opening up the doors for recreational marijuana to be sold in Florida, the bills would also impact individuals convicted of marijuana-related crimes and tenants living on private property.
The House version of the bill would also make possession of cannabis under the age of 21 a second-degree misdemeanor for the first offense and a first-degree misdemeanor for subsequent offenses.
That version of the bill would give the green light to individuals convicted of certain marijuana-related crimes to petition the court for a resentencing and the expungement of their criminal history record.
In the Senate version, the bill would allow private property owners to restrict the smoking or vaping of marijuana on their property, but they would not be allowed to stop tenants from using marijuana by other means.
Smoking marijuana in public would still be illegal under the bills.
