MARIJUANA LAW/MARIJUANA CHARGES

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.  While the State of Florida is slowly moving in the direction of legalization, possession of marijuana (or any liquids, edibles, pills, or other products derived therefrom) without a medical marijuana use card issued pursuant to Florida Statute 381.986 is illegal, and a conviction for the possession or sale of any of the above carries with it a number of very serious potential consequences.  Among those potential consequences are probation with required substance abuse treatment, jail, driver’s license suspension, and, in rare cases, prison.

The legal landscape in Florida as it relates to Marijuana, a.k.a. Cannabis, is currently evolving faster than law enforcement can keep up.  Whereas the smell of cannabis, whether flowering or burnt, used to provide sufficient probable cause for law enforcement to search a stopped vehicle, that isn’t always the case anymore, in part due to the fact that the smell of legal hemp is indistinguishable from the smell of cannabis.  In State v. Nord, 28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 511 (Fla. 20th Cir. Ct. Aug. 8, 2020), a 20th Judicial Circuit Court concluded that the smell of cannabis alone was insufficient to provide law enforcement with the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle.  Other circuits have either reached an opposite conclusion or have carefully avoided addressing this issue.  (See, e.g. State v. Parker, 311 So. 3D 1029 (Fla. 5th DCA 2021.)  The bottom line is that there is not yet consensus among Florida’s Judicial Circuits and District Courts of Appeal as to the significance of the smell of cannabis in the context of the detention of the driver of a vehicle and the search of the interior.

Complicating matters is the fact that possession of raw cannabis, THC cartridges, or edibles containing THC are perfectly legal under Florida law, provided the individual in possession is in compliance with the relevant portions of chapter 381, Florida Statutes.  

At the Michael Hines Law Firm, we represent clients in Marijuana related cases that range from:

  • Simple Marijuana Possession

  • Felony Marijuana Possession

  • Marijuana Trafficking

  • Marijuana Cultivation