PoliticsFlorida Republican Senator Says His Medical Marijuana Homegrow Bill Doesn’t Have Support From GOP Colleagues

OG Article

February 25, 2025

Ben Adlin

A Republican lawmaker in Florida who wants to let medical marijuana patients grow their own cannabis at home says the proposal is failing to get much traction among members of his own party.

“I hope to move it,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joe Gruters (R), said on a podcast this month, “but there’s not a lot of interest in my Republican colleagues to move anything related to marijuana whatsoever.”

The measure, SB 456, would allow state-registered cannabis patients 21 and older to grow up to two plants for personal use provided they first apply for and obtain a certificate from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

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Gruters, who supported the adult-use legalization ballot measure Amendment 3 that fell short of passage last year, said that campaign “opened my eyes” to the importance of allowing home cultivation.

“I never knew homegrow was a big deal out there, and that was brought up to me over and over again,” he said on the News Service of Florida podcast, Deeper Dive with Dara Kam. “And I said, ‘You know what? No matter what happens in this fight. I’m going to take some of these issues and I’m going to move it forward.'”

Under the proposal, cultivation would need to occur out of public view and “in an enclosed, locked space to prevent access by unauthorized persons and persons younger than 21 years of age.”

State officials would need to establish procedures “for the issuance, renewal, suspension, replacement, surrender, and revocation” of medical marijuana homegrow certifications, “including rules providing for the inspection and registration of each cannabis plant.”

Renters would also need to provide documentation when applying to show that their landlord consents to cannabis being grown on the property.

On the podcast, Gruters likened home cannabis cultivation to home beer brewing or winemaking.

“Florida is a freedom state. I believe in freedom,” he said. “If you really want to do that stuff, and you want to take the time, then by all means go and do it, as long as you do it in a regulated way to where nobody else is getting hurt and you’re taking responsibility.”

Kam, the podcast host, questioned the importance of the change.

“I don’t know how much of a real issue it is,” she told Gruters. “I think there is a subsection of diehard pro-marijuana folks who feel very strongly about the homegrow, and they’re very vocal. I’m not sure, like, Jane and Joe Lunchbucket. who shop at the— you know, who are in the medical program, really care about that.”

Kam also described Florida’s medical marijuana system as “a veiled recreational program right now.”

“If you have the funds, you can get a card,” she said. “Let’s just face it.”

Gruters said that with scant support from Republicans, he’s also not sure if a separate medical marijuana expansion bill will win traction among colleagues.

That measure, SB 552, would add new qualifying conditions, waive fees for military veterans, let doctors issue recommendations through telehealth and allow out-of-state patients to participate in Florida’s program, among other provisions.

“I don’t even know if that will move,” Gruters told Kam.

The podcast host then pivoted to whether Gruters is a medical patient or had used cannabis in the past. “Did you ever smoke pot back in the day?” she asked.

Gruters said that while he had friends growing up who smoked marijuana, he “never did it because I always wanted to run for office.”

But on his birthday a few years ago, while vacationing in Las Vegas with his wife, the couple decided to try some infused gummies, he said.

“All I’ll say is, I thought everybody was looking at me,” the lawmaker recalled. “I was very thirsty, and I told my wife, I said, ‘You’ve got to get me back to our hotel room quick!”

Gruters, a former chair of the Florida Republican Party, last year appeared in an ad alongside Sen. Shevrin Jones (D) to argue that the reform would be “good for Florida” despite strong pushback from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Gruters and Kim Rivers—the CEO of Trulieve, a medical marijuana company that provided the bulk of funding for Amendment 3—also met with President Donald Trump ahead of his endorsement of the constitutional amendment, as well as federal rescheduling and industry banking access.

The campaign behind the amendment, Smart & Safe Florida, has filed a revised version of the measure in hopes of getting a second shot in 2026.

Meanwhile, a state poll released earlier this month shows overwhelming bipartisan voter support for the reform.

The University of North Florida (UNF) survey found that 67 percent of Florida voters now back legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.

A majority of voters did support the Smart & Safe Florida cannabis proposal during last November’s election, but it failed to reach the 60 percent threshold needed to enact a constitutional amendment at the ballot under state law.

The results conflict with another recent poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a proactive opponent of legalization, that found majority support for the reform among likely voter (53 percent) but not enough to be enacted under the 60 percent requirement.