The Office of the Governor of Florida has denied allegations about having an exchange agreement with hemp operators in the state. This comes after the state’s hemp industry pledged a $5 million donation to the state’s GOP party after Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a measure that would have put a stop to the state’s intoxicating products.
According to a popular news outlet, WhatsApp messages from Save Florida Hemp were leaked. This group includes hemp manufacturers, major laboratories and small shops. Hemp industry lobbyists in the state of Florida include Bill Helmin, the executive director of the party, and Evan Power, chair of the Republican Party of Florida.
The messages indicate that industry executives were discussing the donation, with some parties terming the contribution as support for the governor’s stance against a recreational cannabis ballot initiative. One message from the group highlighted how nothing in life was free, including the veto by the governor. This message was posted on June 27, 2024, a couple of weeks after the governor vetoed the initiative.
Honest PPD owner, Ernie Ciaccio, stated that he hoped the group would raise more than $5 million for the GOP’s chapter in Florida. Ciaccio added that the industry felt the government going against this initiative was wrong.
The report also determined that the group had already contributed more than $2 million to the state GOP party. Contributions are said to have ranged between $500 to $25,000, with major operators such as Arvida Labs giving donating more than smaller operators.
Even with this evidence, the office of the governor continues to deny that it has any arrangement. One spokesman for DeSantis claimed that the suggestion of a deal concerning the veto was false, adding that the measure was vetoed because it would thrust crippling regulatory burdens upon businesses.
Tensions between advocates calling for the legalization of recreational cannabis and the hemp industry have persisted in Florida for some time. Executives in the hemp industry claim that cannabis legalization will negatively affect their businesses, which are already limited to the sale of products with no more than 0.3% of delta 9-THC. This compound is a common component of cannabis known to cause intoxication.
Concurrently, hemp businesses have began selling intoxicating products such as decarboxylated THCA, which has maintained parity with cannabis in a number of regulated recreational state markets.
As of May, the average wholesale THCA price stood at $922 a pound, which was higher than the cost of marijuana in markets such as Colorado and California.
The marijuana industry, including leading entities such as TerrAscend Corp. (TSX: TSND) (OTCQX: TSNDF), will be keeping tabs on how the run up to the November elections pans out in Florida as the voters decide whether to end marijuana prohibition.
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